Tittle : Italian Football Hits Another Low with the Anne Frank Incident
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Italian Football Hits Another Low with the Anne Frank Incident
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The deplorable Anne Frank situation on 22 October 2017 where certain members of Lazio's Ultras left stickers with Ms. Frank's image superimposed on an AS Roma shirt in La Curva Sud (Roma's traditional ultra section at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.) Lazio's ultras were banned from their own Curva Nord area due to previous racist chanting. This game did not involve AS Roma. Lazio were playing Cagliari in a Sunday night game.
Contents:
1. Concise background of the Italian Ultras.
2. Lip service by Italian football authorities.
3. Power of the Ultra bosses.
4. My recommendations how to end this once and for all.
5. Selected quotes by Anne Frank from her diary.
1. Concise background of the Italian Ultras:
Lazio-voorzitter wil fans op Auschwitz-excursie sturen na kwalijke Anne Frank-stickers https://t.co/VB87T6rslG http://pic.twitter.com/B2gkmpSUJz— Sportwereld.be (@sportwereld_be) October 24, 2017
Banner translation: "Auschwitz is your country. The ovens are your home."
They are hard-core "fans" who sit in very specific sections of stadia called "Le Curve." They have close ties with club teams and often receive the tacit approval of team Presidents. They have been a part of Italian calcio for decades; however, the minority of them wield significant power and often create racist, xenophobic and anti-semitic events as was seen two days ago in Rome.
2. Lip service by Italian football authorities:
Anne Frank's diary will be read aloud at all Italian soccer matches this week to counter anti-Semitism displays https://t.co/zhan2Yiz2w— Michelle L. Price (@michellelprice) October 24, 2017
As long as the powers that be in Italian football allow the Ultras to exercise control and power, nothing will ever change. They can read passages from Anne Frank's diary or Privo Levi's work before games as an act of penance. They can promise to "educate" their fans about tolerance and history.
They can make visits to Roman synagogues to express solidarity. They can "disassociate" themselves from those who spread this type of visceral hate as Mr. Claudio Lotito, the President of Lazio, did today. But will these attempts solve the underlying problem? This was the latest in a long line of racist and/or anti-semitic incidents specifically involving Lazio. But other Italian clubs have blood on their hands for the same reasons.
3. Power of the Ultra bosses:
Fan power in Italy. Napoli Ultra leader telling his player Hamsik the game doesn't start until the Police stand down. http://pic.twitter.com/1FRUGHSwMe— Greg Pennington (@PenningtonG) May 3, 2014
I'm reminded of the Coppa Italia (Italian Cup) final from May 2014 when an Ultra capo (leader of an Ultra group) was "negotiating" with Marek Hamsik of Napoli in a caged-in area. No professional player should be subjected to such treatment. In full view were the elite VIPs of Italian football that night in Stadio Olimpico in Rome: Presidents of Napoli and Fiorentina along with the Italian Federation. It sent a clear visual: Ultra bosses have power over an actual game.
4. My thoughts how to end this once and for all:
Dit weekend wordt in ITA voor elke match min stilte gehouden vr #AnneFrank. Omwille v wansmakelijke actie irriducibili @OfficialSSLazio 1/2 http://pic.twitter.com/QJCUUHxN7O— M.Van Vaerenbergh (@mvanvaerenbergh) October 24, 2017
Scenes from what was displayed at Stadio Roma last Sunday.
My Recommendations:
1. Learn from the English who removed hooliganism from their grounds. Their model ushered in the global sports juggernaut that is the English Premier League. Italian football authorities need to ask them for help and how to create a long-term plan. Italian managers routinely export their services to England. It is time for English experts to teach the Italians how to remove a serious scourge.
2. Zero tolerance. Ban clubs from the league itself and any European competitions. No more playing X amount of games behind "closed doors." No more slap on the wrist types of fines by the Italian authorities. Banning certain members of Ultra groups will not stop this type of behavior. Clubs themselves must pay the ultimate price for the ignorance of certain fans. Yes, this will hurt law-abiding supporters; however, do you have a better idea given the long history of this issue in Italian football?
3. Italian calcio will never become a global brand, or even come close to the English, Spanish and Germans, until racism, xenophobia and religious intolerance incidents that occur with regularity are eradicated from their stadia. After last Sunday, Italian football only reinforces its poor image abroad.
4. Until Italian club Presidents, their shareholders, and sponsor wake up, feel the pressure financially, and finally say "Basta," nothing will change. It's quite simple: If you want an Ultra boss to run your club, determine what is seen and/or left in your stadium, then you have no business calling yourself the President. Whether it is Signor Lotitio or any other Serie A owner.
5. The American ownership at AS Roma, along with the new Chinese groups at AC Milan and Internazionale, respectively, bring in different sporting perspectives. Mr. James Pallotta, the President of AS Roma, has courageously made many public statements condemning the power and influence of certain Ultras. He needs his ownership colleagues in Serie A to join him.
5. Selected quotes by Anne Frank from her diary:
Italy probes Anti-Semitic Anne Frank Stickers at Rome Stadium. Pol says culprits should be made to memorize diary https://t.co/3B0LzLzDXs http://pic.twitter.com/N1OcdcRBzo— Philip Pullella (@PhilipPullella) October 24, 2017
"Writing in a diary is a really strange experience for someone like me. Not only because I’ve never written anything before, but also because it seems to me that later on neither I nor anyone else will be interested in the musings of a thirteen-year old school girl. Oh well, it doesn’t matter. I feel like writing."
"Women should be respected as well! Generally speaking, men are held in great esteem in all parts of the world, so why shouldn’t women have their share? Soldiers and war heroes are honored and commemorated, explorers are granted immortal fame, martyrs are revered, but how many people look upon women too as soldiers?"
"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."
"What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again."
Steve Amoia, Publisher of World Football Commentaries.
Steve Amoia is a freelance writer and translator based in Washington, D.C. He is the publisher of World Football Commentaries since 2006 and published The Soccer Translator from 2008 to 2015.
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