Italian fans say no to Euro 2016/I tifosi italiani dicono no a Euro 2016/Italienischen Fans sagen Nein zum Euro 2016

Just buying a ticket, especially for the away fans section, becomes a time-and-nerve-consuming experience, an obstacle course often because of contradictory information coming from each of the two clubs involved and the ticket booking company.  

Every week fans from across the country have to wait until the preceding Thursday to know whether they are allowed to go to an away match or not, or sometimes even to know in they are allowed to enter the stadium at all (or whether it'll be closed).

There are two specific bodies, both related to the Ministry of the Interior (Italy's equivalent to the UK Home Office), that decide which games are "highly risky" for public safety and so which measures are to be imposed. Often, away ends are closed, games are played without spectators, and restrictions to the ticket purchase procedure introduced mandatorily.

Just a few days ago, Fiorentina fans were in for a shock. Their presence in the away end (holding 4000 people) of the "San Paolo" stadium in Napoli had been previously allowed, but then, a few days before the game, it was decided to let only 30 enter (yes, thirty!), the lucky supporters to be drawn from the 300 demanding a ticket. As a result all Fiorentina fans agreed to stay at home and no one applied for a ticket.

Such decisions don't affect only big matches in Serie A, but even games in the amateur leagues and in other sports like basketball and even hockey!

Endless evidence of the absurd restrictive measures imposed every week can be found at http://www.osservatoriosport.interno.it

In Italy, so called "safety measures", which kill off the often amazing show put on by fans in stadia, are destroying the joy of being a football fan, and even threatening supporters' freedom. That's absolutely opposed to UEFA's welcome approach towards fans, particularly by its President Michel Platini. 

Extraordinarily, with all this going on, Italy has applied to host Euro 2016 after the failure of its candidature for Euro 2012.

And now fans across Italy have begrudgingly launched a lobbying campaign opposing the candidature.

And why? A European Championship can be a big business, but first it should be a celebration of the entire continent's passion for football, and it doesn't sound right to let a country that is slowly killing the game host the tournament; how does a country that can't even manage amateur games safely organise such an important competition?!

The campaign has been launched by Lorenzo Contucci, the Italian lawyer (and Roma fan) who has become known because of his work with supporters, who says:

"We believe that Italy doesn't deserve the right to host Euro 2016. Our Government - through the Interior Ministry - is trying to maintain public order by discriminating against fans from certain areas, and by closing away ends. Lots of important matches are not accessible to fans who don't live in the host city."

"They are doing this as part of the "tessera del tifoso" project, which is not about helping the fans as they say. Italian stadiums are more and more empty compared to previous years and in the lower leagues football is dying.

"Closing away ends and making it impossible for fans from certain cities and towns to buy tickets simply demonstrates one thing: Italy can't organise Euro 2016."

The movement is lobbying Uefa to persuade them to choose another country, and is also related to the fight against the "fan card" (or ‘tessera del tifoso' in Italian), a deplorable mix of a ‘fan license', a personal data control system and a credit card, that is planned to be introduced at the beginning of next season after being postponed at the end of 2009.

Not only are Italian people being asked to join the petition: the final decision about the country that will obtain to host the European Championship concerns supporters from the entire continent, and the group want all those interested to sign.

Support has already come from several countries, with the campaign spreading far and wide already by word of mouth, through the internet, and now the media are beginning to talk about it.

If you want to know more, read more on the official campaign homepage

And you can also find out more and join the campaign on facebook

Leave a comment »

AddThis