 SKY Sport coverage of the clashes | |||||||
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| Date | 2 February 2007 | ||||||
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| Venue | Stadio Angelo Massimino, Catania, Sicily | ||||||
On 2 February 2007, football violence occurred between football supporters and the police in Catania, Sicily, Italy. The clashes occurred during and after the Serie A match between the Catania and Palermo football clubs, also known as the Sicilian derby. Police officer Filippo Raciti was killed; in response Italian football was suspended for about a week. [1] [2] [3]
The football match between Catania and Palermo, a derby between two of the three Serie A club that hail from Sicily (the other being Messina), was originally scheduled to be played on 4 February at 15:00. However, after requests from the Catania management, the Lega Nazionale Professionisti brought the match forward to 2 February, with 18:00 as the scheduled kick-off time, in order to avoid clashing with the official St. Agatha celebrations in Catania.[ citation needed ]
The match started without the Palermo supporters, who arrived in the stadium ten minutes after the beginning of the second half, allegedly because of organizational problems. [4] After the Palermo supporters' entrance, with Palermo leading 1–0 thanks to a controversial goal by Andrea Caracciolo, the throwing of smoke bombs and firecrackers started, forcing the police to reply by throwing tear gas canisters towards the Ultras (groups of football supporters). As a result, the match referee Stefano Farina decided to suspend the match for over forty minutes, in part because tear gas had drifted into the stadium and was affecting the players. After the end of the match, won 2–1 by Palermo, Catania supporters outside the venue began attacking members of the police force; Raciti died during these incidents, a fatality which was found to be due to severe liver injuries caused by a blunt object, contradicting an initial hypothesis which claimed his death was caused by an improvised explosive device. [5] [6] The local magistrate assured there was no direct responsibility by Palermo supporters in the events. [7]
The riot's sole fatality was police officer Filippo Raciti. [8] [9]
Born in Catania, Sicily, Raciti joined the Italian police in June 1986, and joined the local flying squad in late 2006. He lived in Acireale, in the Province of Catania with his wife and two children, aged 15 and 9.
A week before his death, Raciti gave evidence at the trial of a football hooligan, who was then freed by the local magistrate. According to one of his colleagues, the hooligan laughed in his face as he left the court. [10]
Raciti died as a result of liver damage [11] caused by blunt object trauma, disproving an initial hypothesis which claimed his death was caused by a homemade firecracker. [12]
Raciti's death provoked outrage in Italy, with a great and somewhat uncommon amount of solidarity towards the Italian law enforcement forces, and massive coverage worldwide. [13] A 17-year-old from Catania was later jailed and detained in custody, charged with the murder. As of February 2007, he was being investigated by the Italian police. [14]
On 17 February 2007, the city council of Quarrata, in Tuscany, approved a proposal to name the local football stadium after the Italian policeman. [15] An official ceremony, also attended by Raciti's widow, was held on 10 March, making Quarrata the first city to name a stadium after him.
The Sicilian derby riots happened a week after the death of an amateur football club official named Ermanno Licursi, who was beaten to death during a riot soon after a Terza Categoria league match. [16]
Events in Catania led Italian Football Federation commissioner Luca Pancalli to cancel all football-related events in the country, including all professional and amateur league matches, as well as all national team matches. The whole football world strongly condemned the riot, showing full support for Pancalli's decision to stop all football activities in Italy, and suggested a solution akin to the UK's Football Spectators Act 1989, the goal of which was to wipe out football hooliganism.[ citation needed ]
Catania chairman and owner Antonino Pulvirenti announced his willingness to leave the football world, stating it was not possible to go on "doing football" in the city of Catania. A couple of days later he reconsidered. [17]
The day after the event, graffiti appeared in the headquarters of local newspaper Il Tirreno in Livorno, hailing the riot as revenge for the 2001 death of anti-globalization rioter Carlo Giuliani. Similar graffiti also appeared in Piacenza, Rome, Milan, and Palermo. [18]
Following the riots, the government announced its willingness to harshen the current football stadia act, also known as Pisanu decree (Italian: Decreto Pisanu) after former Minister of the Interior Giuseppe Pisanu, who enacted the law in 2005. In its original form, the Pisanu decree required Italian mayors and football clubs to meet specific safety standards in their stadiums; however, these have been ignored by most of Serie A and B clubs, meaning that the majority of Italian football venues, including Catania, did not comply with these standards. Former Minister of the Interior Giuliano Amato officially permitted departures from these standards for the 2006–07 football season. The events in Catania, however, led Minister Amato, and Minister of Sports Giovanna Melandri, to immediately cancel every derogation, thus forcing teams to play "behind closed doors" (forbidding the presence of spectators for every venue not within the law), including Stadio San Siro in Milan, Stadio San Paolo in Naples and Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence. Catania were banned from playing in their stadium for the remainder of the season, and had to play the remainder of their home fixtures at a neutral venue. [19] The Catania club was successively punished by the Italian Football Federation with the obligation not to play its home matches in its home stadium, and additionally with no spectators (a porte chiuse). This was however partially overturned on 4 April by the TAR (Tribunale Amministrativo Regionale, regional administrative court) of Catania, which decided the Football Federation should allow spectators to take part on the team's home matches. The decision was overturned by the TAR of Rome some days later, but re-overturned by the Catania TAR in mid-April; this caused the delay of the league match Catania vs Ascoli, originally scheduled to be played on 22 April in Modena with no spectators' presence. The match was rescheduled on 2 May. In the end, the FIGC allowed Catania supporters to attend the two final "home" matches against AC Milan and Chievo, both played at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna.[ citation needed ]
Other countermeasures provided by the government include a ban on rockets, smoke-producers and firecrackers at sports events, the prohibition of night-matches for the entire month of February 2007, a ban on the block sale of tickets to away supporters, and the so-called "preventive Daspo" (where Daspo stands for "Prohibition to Participate to Sports Events"), which since 1992 allows the police force to precautionarily ban suspected hooligans from attending football matches. [20] Clubs will also be forbidden to make financial or working relationships with the fan associations. [21] The Amato decree which included all such measures was finally ratified by the Senate on 4 April, only five days short of its expiration (in Italy, a governmental decree must be ratified by both the chambers of the Parliament in sixty days).
On 10 February, the San Siro in Milan was declared safe enough to host the match of the next day. [22]
On 2 September, Stadio Massimino finally reopened its doors for the first time since the tragic events causing Raciti's death, hosting a Serie A 2007-08 game between Catania and Genoa, [23] after the venue underwent major work to fulfil the newly introduced safety regulations. [24] Raciti's widow Marisa Grasso attended the match, and one minute silence was observed before the starting whistle to honour the inspector's memory. [25]
Palermo Football Club is an Italian professional football club based in Palermo, Sicily, that currently plays in Serie B. It is part of the City Football Group.
Catania Football Club, commonly known as Catania, is an Italian football club based in the city of Catania, Sicily, that plays in Serie C.
Football hooliganism, also known as soccer hooliganism, football rioting or soccer rioting, constitutes violence and other destructive behaviors perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism typically involves conflict between pseudo-tribes, formed to intimidate and attack supporters of other teams. Certain clubs have long-standing rivalries with other clubs and hooliganism associated with matches between them can be more severe. An example of this is the Devon Derby . Conflict may arise at any point, before, during or after matches and occasionally outside of game situations. Participants often select locations away from stadiums to avoid arrest by the police, but conflict can also erupt spontaneously inside the stadium or in the surrounding streets. In extreme cases, hooligans, police and bystanders have been killed, and riot police have intervened. Hooligan-led violence has been called "aggro" and "bovver".
Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, formerly known as Stadio San Paolo, is a stadium in the western Fuorigrotta suburb of Naples, Italy. It is the fourth largest football stadium in Italy, after Milan's San Siro, Rome's Stadio Olimpico and Bari's San Nicola. For the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, the stadium hosted the football preliminaries. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of SSC Napoli. Constructed in 1959, the stadium was extensively renovated in 1989 for the 1990 World Cup and again in 2018. The stadium currently accommodates 60,240 spectators, but in the past with terraced sections, the stadium took close to 90,000.
Stadio Renzo Barbera is a football stadium in Palermo, Italy. It is currently the home stadium of Palermo F.C. team. The stadium was inaugurated during the fascist era on 24 January 1932, and was originally named Stadio Littorio after the Italian word for the fasces symbol. The opening match was Palermo vs Atalanta, with Palermo winning 5–1. A running track surrounded the pitch and there were no stands behind either goal. In 1936, the stadium was renamed Stadio Michele Marrone, in memory of a soldier killed during the Spanish Civil War. In 1945, the name was changed again at the end of World War II to Stadio La Favorita, taken from the name of the local ancient game preserve of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor in the 13th century.
Stadio Angelo Massimino is a multi-use stadium in Catania, Italy. It is used mostly for football matches and the home of Calcio Catania. The stadium was built in 1935 by architect Raffaele Leone on behalf of the company owned by Antonio Ferro and holds 23,266 people. It was renamed in 2002 after former Catania chairman Angelo Massimino (1927–1996).
Barra brava is the name of organized supporters' groups of football teams in Argentina, analogous to European ultras and British hooligans in providing fanatical support to their clubs in stadiums and provoking violence against rival fans as well as against the police.
The 2006–07 Serie A was the 105th season of top-tier Italian football, the 75th in a round-robin tournament. It was scheduled to begin on 26 and 27 August but was postponed to 2 September 2006 due to the Calciopoli scandal, which led to the absence of Juventus. On 22 April 2007, Internazionale became Serie A champions after defeating Siena, as Roma's loss to Atalanta left Inter with a 16-point advantage with five matches to play.
The 2006–07 season was the 105th season of competitive football in Italy.
The Derby di Sicilia or Sicilian Derby in English, is a local derby between Italian football clubs Catania FC and Palermo FC. Catania and Palermo are the two main cities on the island of Sicily, and the teams are fierce rivals. However, they have seldom played each other within the Italian football league system, because in many seasons they have played in separate divisions of the league. The first time the Sicilian derby took place in the context of league football was on November 1, 1936, at Palermo in Serie B level; it ended in a 1–1 draw. The Sicilian derby has been played 10 times in Serie A: Catania leading their rivals by 5 victories to Palermo's 4; the other occasion was drawn. The teams have also met in local Sicilian competitions, and friendly matches.
The 2007–08 Serie A was the 106th season of top-tier Italian football, the 76th in a round-robin tournament. It started on 25 August 2007 and ended on 18 May 2008. Internazionale Milano successfully defended the championship on the final day of the season, finishing first with 85 points, three ahead of Roma.
U.S. Città di Palermo played the season 2006–07 in the Serie A league. It has been the third season in a row for Palermo in the top division of Italy.
Silvio Baldini is an Italian association football manager, currently in charge of Serie C Group B club Pescara.
U.S. Città di Palermo is playing the season 2007–08 in the Serie A, being the fourth season in a row for Palermo in the league since their return in 2004.
Palermo, as the top football club in Sicily in terms of Serie A appearances and among the major ones in the Italian football panorama, has a long history, which spans from its official foundation in 1900.
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