Comments on: Fuck.

By: Fetyani

Fetyani — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 08:22:35 +0000

those ultras are becoming bigger than the game and the FIGC. banning them and punishing them wont solve anything at all, if anything it will piss them off even more. FIGC should work and try to please those ultras. because honestly after seeing what happened today, those people are the ones in control. im not condoning there actions, but they’re not 5 years old kids, its not only a game to them. so the best solution is to work with them for a a better solution. banning them will make it worse, and god knows what will they do next.

By: Martha

Martha — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 02:17:25 +0000

Curry, I’ve been trying to explain it to my dad and my brother today, and they just keep saying “Wait, what? Because … a fan got shot?” Things are out of control and have been for ages; the problem is that it’s all going to stay that way.

By: Curry

Curry — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 02:00:45 +0000

Wanted to say thank you for keeping us updated on the latest. As Spangly said..this has nothing to do with football anymore. I can’t beleive it’s escalated to this kind of violence. The Italian government have a beast of alarming proportions in their hands and I hope these events have shook them enough to do something..anything.

My prayers are with the innocent people in Rome who were just trying to live their lives this weekend.

By: mele419

mele419 — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 01:20:07 +0000

ohh dio mio… The state of calcio these days -_-
When will people learn?
What has this solved? Absolutely nothing.

By: SpanglyPrincess

SpanglyPrincess — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 01:00:38 +0000

Well, it’s hard to know in all honesty. They were crowds of mostly young men, mostly dressed in black and with their faces covered. A few wearing team scarves but mostly without any easily identifiable features at all.

So undoubtedly some were ultras – by which I mean either members of one of the many well-established ultra groups, or (much less commonly) individuals who consider themselves to have the “ultra mentality” but for whatever reason have no group identity. It’s also possible – indeed fairly likely – that some were random hooligans who were there to express their hatred of the police. There are a lot of neo-fascist gangs who are up for a ruck with the authorities on any excuse.

My guess is that when an armed mob attacks you, you don’t stop to ask them how they’d like to be described in tomorrow’s newspapers.

By: Martha

Martha — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:53:15 +0000

Thanks, SP. (And I think most people here know that not all Ultras are violent, but the impression I’ve gotten from the Italian press is that the people involved in the violence are Ultras. Is that incorrect?)

By: SpanglyPrincess

SpanglyPrincess — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 00:22:45 +0000

I just drove past the Olimpico here in Rome half an hour ago – it looks like a war zone, upturned cars and bins, smashed glasses, road signs pulled up and used as weapons, armed riot police everywhere. Thank God they weren’t so stupid as to try to play the game, the whole days’ games should have been called off.

oh and btw not all ultras are violent. These people are just hooligans pure and simple.

By: Angharad

Angharad — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 21:47:22 +0000

Roma, the Eternal City, where civil rule works only until the plebs take to the streets. I really shouldn’t be able to make relevant allusions in the year 2007 to the final days of the Roman Republic. Saturninus, anyone?

By: Mark

Mark — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 19:14:34 +0000

Bonnie, thanks for the answer. I can understand the hostility that Italians have for authority etc. but I always thought that ultra groups are essentially violent; perhaps I’m wrong.

Isn’t the word “ultra” itself a reference to “ultraviolence” from A Clockwork Orange?

By: Martha

Martha — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 18:10:58 +0000

Yeah, knowingly running that risk would be, if not suicidal, then extremely idiotic. I just hope the marches tonight are relatively peaceful.