Italian football federation in line for a ‘strong gesture’

Italian football has always been a center of attraction in all Europe. But more often than not it is for all the wrong reasons. It has not yet fully recovered from the match-fixing scandal of last season, and the recent incident of fan’s violence will cast further aspersions on the image of the Italian Football federation. Sunday saw a Lazio fan shot dead by policeman. Lazio was playing at Inter on Sunday and the incident occurred when a riot broke out between the fans of Juventus and Lazio at a motorway service station in Tuscany. In the aftermath of the fan’s death, several Serie A games were suspended. Italy’s sports minister, Giovanna Melandri expressed grief over the incident and commented, Today I think a significant gesture needs to be made to express the condolences from the sporting world and the football world and the shared mourning and at the same time a condemnation without hesitation of violence. She went on to say that she had recommended suspension of the championship for a few weeks. Italy’s anti-hooligan body, on its part, has made several recommendations to control such incidents in future. Among them is an early adoption of ‘supporter passports,’ regulation of away fan attendance on a match by match basis, and a complete ban on large groups of potentially dangerous away supporters. Although there are clear hooligan problems plaguing Italy’s soccer scenario, UEFA spokesman William Gaillard feels that such incidents are a reflection of ‘social difficulties in Italian cities.’ Whatever be the cause, it is but clear that Italian football is going through some very tough times. International bodies should step in and tackle these problems before they assume graver dimensions. Image Via