Gennaro de Tommaso, leader of Napoli ‘Curva A’ supporters, sits on the railing prior to the Italy Cup final match against Fiorentina. (EPA)
Reuters/Rome
Police have arrested a man over shootings that marred the Italian Cup Final and left a supporter fighting for his life yesterday, violence that politicians and commentators said pointed to a broader malaise in the national sport.
The shootings took place on the streets before Saturday night’s match between Napoli and Fiorentina and set up ugly scenes inside Rome’s Olympic Stadium, where supporters threw flares and smoke bombs and delayed the start of the final.
Napoli won the match 3-1.
Police said yesterday they had arrested Daniele De Santis, a 48 year-old Roma supporter they said had insulted a group of Napoli fans and, when they responded, shot and wounded three of them with a pistol.
De Santis is charged with attempted murder while the three Napoli supporters are also under arrest. They include Ciro Esposito who is in a critical condition in hospital after a bullet hit him in the chest.
Commentators said the pre-match violence and the behaviour in the stadium, where supporters’ boos and whistles drowned out the national anthem, underlined the decline of Italian soccer and the failure of its administrators.
Officials and politicians condemned the role given to Napoli’s hard-core “Ultra” supporters, whose leader was consulted by the team’s captain in the stadium before apparently giving his authorisation for the game to go ahead.
“What happened yesterday was the surrender of the country’s institutions to the fans,” said former national team coach Arrigo Sacchi.
“No-one wants to take any action because they are afraid of losing support, so the solutions are always put off and then forgotten about.”
Repeated promises by politicians to crack down on soccer violence have proven ineffective, often resisted by the clubs themselves as well as their organised supporters.
Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said yesterday he was considering introducing lifetime bans from stadiums for offenders.
