Racist attacks and Serie A under attack: stadiums are once again scary – Football

ROME – Ten assaults a month. Physical, verbal, through social media or with chants and banners. And more and more often at the stadium, which after the closures imposed by Covid has returned to the free zone in which everything is allowed, especially if the protagonists of the ball are at the expense. The Assocalciatori report “Footballers under fire” reveals how the phenomenon of violence, not just verbal, is directed against football players – and not just players. A document presented in the areas of the State Police sports club, and in front of the president of the Viminale Observatory Paolo Cortis to act as host.

Racism and assaults in stadiums

The president of the Football Federation Gabriele Gravina recalled the case “of the young referee Cissé, from New Guinea, who was forced to interrupt a second-category match because he was attacked and covered in racist insults. We are close to him, but restrictive measures are needed against these offenders”. And worrying is the fact that racism remains one of the main reasons for the attacks. 43% of cases for racism, 44% for performance. Suffice it to say that 39% of concerns concern African children, slightly less than Europeans (42%): sufficient to understand that Paola Egonu speaking of Italy as a country still at the mercy of racism, said an absolute truth.

Serie A under attack

In all, 121 episodes of intimidation and violence against football stars were registered in the last season: they doubled in one year. Almost 50% of the episodes developed in the northern regions, 25% in Lombardy, then Campania and Lazio, historically always at the top of the regions most affected by cases of violence. The significant datum is how these episodes hit the top of the pyramid more and more frequently: Serie A suffers a significantly higher figure than previous years, with 69% incidence, but it is 85% of the time that a professional footballer. The motivations? On 83% of occasions, the target of violence and intimidation is the individual footballer.

One “aggression” out of 4 in Lombardy

The striking fact is the geographical root: 50% of intimidations and attacks occur in the North, even one in four in Lombardy, the region most exposed to such phenomena. Immediately behind, Campania and Lazio, historically exposed. The stadium is once again the place where intimidation mainly takes place, after the years of Covid: 60% of the episodes. How do they develop? 36% are chants, 22% insults, 14% banners, only 9% arrive on social networks. But the data does not reassure, on the contrary: because intimidation via social media is always the most detailed: “I know where your children go to school”, “I know where you live” and therefore more dangerous and more effective. Physical assaults represent 7% of the total, to which must be added thefts – at 4% – and 3% of damage to property.

The case of the referee Cissé

Umberto Calcagno, the president of the Aic, summarized the report as follows: “The situation is very serious: if it is true that the data could be interpreted in a different way, the trend today worries me a lot. The fact that attacks on individuals are on the rise must make us think. And who are moving towards the professional and apical sector, given that Serie A is increasingly involved. This report was launched with the hashtag “it’s not normal”. A dynamic like this is not included in the profession of a footballer. We have to normalize our world and the figure of the footballer: I am very concerned about the home-work commute of footballers”. The president of the Football Federation Gabriele Gravina recalls: “We live in the era of the public court of social media. Very severe measures are needed against the scoundrels, the criminals: we have had referees with 60 days of prognosis, we are close to the young referee Cissé, from New Guinea. The moment is delicate”.

“Why do certain banners enter stadiums?”

While the sports minister Andrea Abodi focused on the certainty of punishment: “Anyone who has lived the experience of accompanying a child to the football field has seen parents who are more aggressive than their children, who take it out on opponents, the referee. Do we want to find ourselves in a year with an even worse statistic? Sometimes the tendency is to say: oh well, but many are chants, banners, insults, the physical aspect is limited. But these aspects are the antechamber of physical violence. The certainty of punishment marks the crest, the perception of impunity is the beginning of evil. We are gambling a bit of credibility on the immediacy and certainty of the penalty”. With a comment: “It remains difficult to understand why banners enter stadiums”. A question that has long been lacking an answer.