Monday,
October 22
When Does "Offensive Speech" at
Soccer Matches Become Unlawful ???
The
ANNOTICO Report
Inter
The
Ultras displayed two "offensive" banners during a recent Serie A
match against
I
thought those over the edge, while I thought amusing the banner Fiorentina
fans displayed that read "You’re uglier than the Multipla", a reference to a
people-carrier produced by Fiat, the Juventus club’s owners. :)
Some
of the things we teach our children - “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt
me" -
are downright lies. Words do hurt and it is generally accepted that we have a
responsibility to do something about offensive words and insults.
Uefa feels that
way. Certain types of speech (usually racist or anti-Semitic, occasionally
sectarian) are banned from football grounds. Clubs face fines and punishment if
their supporters engage in them. Most seem to agree that this is only right and
just. But it is worth looking at what constitutes offensive speech and
to what degree footballing authorities (or even the legal system) ought to
get involved.
The issue came to
the fore last week, when the Italian FA held Inter Milan responsible for the
behaviour of their Ultras, who displayed two “offensive" banners during a recent Serie A match against Napoli. The Milanese club were
fined about £20,000 and ordered to shut down the section of the San Siro where
the more passionate Ultras sit for their next home match.
However, Inter
are appealing against the punishment. They argue that the kind of insults
contained in the banners, while unpleasant, do not justify banning sections
of their fan base. "Honestly, there are far worse things that go on,
both inside and outside our grounds," Roberto Mancini, the Inter coach,
said. "Put-downs and insults like these have always been part of the
game. Without a doubt, it’s not
nice, but it happens everywhere, to fans of all clubs, and I don’t think it’s worth punishing a whole load of
supporters who have nothing to do with it."
Does he have a
case? You be the judge. There were two offending banners. One read: "
The Italian FA’s verdict equates these statements to racist abuse,
which seems a stretch, not least because Neapolitans are no more a different
race from Milanese than Scousers are a different race from Cockneys.
Sociologists may
suggest that such statements are offensive because their roots lie in age-old
stereotypes based on ancient power relations. In this case the wealthy North of
Italy putting down the impoverished southern city of
But whether it is
racist or even just unacceptable remains to be seen. Liverpudlians are greeted
with songs depicting them as thieves ("Always thieving, same old
scousers") and indigents ("You look in the dustbin for
something to eat/You find a dead rat and you think it’s a treat").
Is this the kind
of thing we want to ban from grounds? Neither of the Ultras’ banners were particularly funny or original, but
there is a long and rich tradition of witty and cutting banners and chants.
When Empoli played at home to Fiorentina, their local rivals, Fiorentina
fans displayed a banner that read "Where did you get your ground . . .
ikea?", a reference to the flatpack nature of the stadium. And a few
years ago Juventus were greeted with "You’re uglier than the Multipla", a reference to a people-carrier
produced by Fiat, the club’s owners.
Both of those
could be seen as offensive to ikea or Fiat, not to mention the fans of those
clubs. The issue becomes where the line is drawn about what is offensive. A
The fear among
some is that by prohibiting banners and slogans we are heading down the
proverbial slippery slope, when any kind of negativity - from the booing
of players to the questioning of a referee’s
eyesight -
is outlawed. And with it most of the banter that is part of football.
It is hard not to
see it as another step towards the antiseptic, sanitised, "football as
just another form of entertainment" brave new world. Yet some feel that it
is time that the nastiness was removed. "It was a brave decision",
Carlo Ancelotti, the AC Milan coach, said. "Why can’t we be more polite towards each other?"
The odds are,
Ancelotti’s views are not shared by those
fans who pay money to follow their clubs and who view those 90 minutes every
weekend as an escape from the niceties of modern life. Either way, it is
worth thinking long and hard about what we want our football grounds to be
like. ....
Gabriele Marcotti
is an Italian sports journalist and presenter who has an encyclopaedic
knowledge of world football. He has also written two books
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