Italy: When The Ball Goes Out of Line
Italians are not only passionate lovers; they are passionate about their calcio as well.
Every year for about nine months, Italy, like almost every other country in the world, has a soccer league which consists of 20 teams. Italian fans, however, are very different from fans all over the world.
Look at how the stadiums are built (shown below), for instance. In England, supporters are able to sit EXTREMELY close to the pitch and still be civilized. Italian stadiums, on the other hand, were built to keep supporters behind bars and fences (and even these don’t stop them from acting like animals).
There have been numerous amounts of deaths, riots, and violence from supporters towards the players during soccer matches. Increased security hasn’t made much difference.
For Italy, soccer is not just a sport. Instead, it is a powerful combination of money, politics and deep rivalries between cities that often turn violent.
Despite all of this, Italian soccer is still worth following. You’d see more drama than what you see on HBO.
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on November 11th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
Nice post! Seriously.