After yesterday's chaos on the motorway, with hundreds of ultras from Naples and Rome who clashed near Arezzo , the government is cracking down on the fans.

The Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, who as prefect of Rome adopted several times prescriptions to ban travel to supporters deemed at risk, will ask the Observatory on sporting events to evaluate the next scheduled events with the utmost severity . We will then reflect, undersecretary Nicola Molteni informs us, "whether it will be necessary to tighten up the measures currently in force to distinguish the true fan from the violent".

Over the years there has been a progressive softening of the grip on violence in stadiums following the death in Catania of the chief inspector of the Police, Filippo Raciti, on February 2, 2007: from the stewards in the facilities to the fan card, from the Daspo to travel prohibited. Accident figures have been declining steadily . Then with the pandemic and stadiums closed to the public, attention on the phenomenon dropped further. The National Observatory, chaired by the General Manager of Public Safety Paolo Cortis, continues to meet every week to evaluate the meetings most at risk and prepare adequate protection measures.

For the future we will return to evaluating the stop to travel . The police union Siulp launches an appeal to Piantedosi «to urgently evaluate the reintroduction of all the tools already tested to prevent these forms of violence. Starting from the fan card up to matches behind closed doors for those teams whose fans are highlighted by violence and intolerance ».

THE CLASHES – Yesterday hundreds of ultras were involved in blocking traffic on the A1 to the north for 50 minutes at the Badia al Pino service area, near Arezzo , the same area where the 11 November 2007 man died Lazio supporter Gabriele Sandri, killed by agent Luigi Spaccarotella. Protagonists of Napoli and Roma away to the north, the former in Genoa, the latter in Milan.

A Roma supporter was injured in the guerrilla warfare and, in the evening, the Arezzo Police Headquarters reported, was arrested for aggravated brawl.

The meeting between the ultras does not seem to have been casual at all: there is the hypothesis that the two supporters had arranged an appointment, due to ancient disagreements and grudges . A sort of showdown for hatred that dates back to the tragic death of the Neapolitan supporter Ciro Esposito, in 2014 in Tor di Quinto, at the hands of a Romanist ultra. Supporters who have always tried, at least in the extreme fringes, to keep at a distance. Today, in fact, for fear of violent episodes, the Badia al Pino service station was manned and the public order service strengthened . But the reckoning took place all the same, probably premeditated and organized.

Activities are now underway to identify the violent people also thanks to the images of the cameras : about eighty Neapolitan supporters were immediately identified in Genoa, where they had subsequently gone to watch the match, and arrests in deferred flagrance are not excluded. "The police - comments the prosecutor of Arezzo Roberto Rossi - are actively working to get to identify as soon as possible those responsible for an act that has endangered the safety of traffic and caused enormous discomfort in a fundamental artery for our road network" .

A tough fist against the violent are also calling for government officials . «Highway closed and Italian travelers stranded? They pay all the damages out of their own pockets, and never again in the stadium," says Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini. According to the head of Sport Andrea Abodi, "those who make mistakes must pay and I hope it will also happen for the hooligans who clashed on the A1".

(Unioneonline/D)

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