 SKY Sport coverage of the clashes | |||||||
| |||||||
| Date | 2 February 2007 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 hooligan 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, shortened to Palermo F.C. and usually simply known as Palermo, is an Italian professional football club based in Palermo, Sicily, that currently plays in Serie B.
Catania F.C. , 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 behaviours perpetrated by spectators at association football events. Football hooliganism normally involves conflict between gangs, in English known as football firms, formed to intimidate and attack supporters of other teams. Other English-language terms commonly used in connection with hooligan firms include "army", "boys", "bods", "casuals", and "crew". Certain clubs have long-standing rivalries with other clubs and hooliganism associated with matches between them is likely to be more severe.
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 Latin America, 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 Calcio Catania and S.S.D. Palermo. 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 A.S. Roma–Manchester United conflict occurred on 4 April 2007 at the Stadio Olimpico during the 2006–07 UEFA Champions League quarter-final match between Roma and Manchester United. In the conflict, missiles were thrown over a perspex barrier separating the two sets of supporters, which prompted the Italian riot police to enter and attempt to subdue the hostile crowd. The incident has been controversial, as the police and team supporters on both sides view the causes of and reactions to the melee differently.
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 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, last in charge of Serie B club Perugia.
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.
The S.S. Lazio fans are supporters of Italian football club Lazio.
The 1985 Luton riot occurred before, during and after a 1984–85 FA Cup sixth-round football match between Luton Town and Millwall on 13 March 1985 at Luton Town's Kenilworth Road ground in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. It was one of the worst incidents of football hooliganism during the 1980s, and led to a ban on away supporters by Luton Town which lasted for four seasons. This itself led to Luton's expulsion from the Football League Cup during the 1986–87 season. The club also began to enforce a membership card scheme, which Margaret Thatcher's government attempted to have adopted at grounds across England. Kenilworth Road was damaged, along with the surrounding area, and a year later was converted to an all-seater stadium.
Beginning in at least the 1960s, the United Kingdom gained a reputation worldwide for football hooliganism; the phenomenon was often dubbed the British or English Disease. However, since the 1980s and well into the 1990s the UK government has led a widescale crackdown on football related violence. While football hooliganism has been a growing concern in some continental European countries in recent years, British football fans now tend to have a better reputation abroad. Although reports of British football hooliganism still surface, the instances now tend to occur at pre-arranged locations rather than at the matches themselves.
The 2013–14 Serie A was the 112th season of top-tier Italian football, the 82nd in a round-robin tournament, and the 4th since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B. The season began on 24 August 2013 and concluded on 18 May 2014. As in previous years, Nike provided the official ball for all matches with a new Nike Incyte model used throughout the season. Juventus were the defending champions, and successfully defended their title to win a third Serie A title in a row with a record-breaking 102 points.
Pietro Arcidiacono is an Italian football player. He plays for Giarre.
{{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)