An Inter Milan ultra leader was
arrested Monday in the death of another of the club's ultra
leaders in scuffles ahead of the 1-0 win over Napoli on Boxing
Day.
Marco Piovella, 34, nicknamed 'Il Rosso' (Red), is one of the
heads of the Boys S.A.N. ultra group and has for years
orchestrated their pre-match displays of banners.
He is believed to be the brainchild behind the pre-match
ambush of Napoli supporters in which Daniele Belardinelli was
reportedly run over by an SUV.
Belardinelli, 39, another far-right ultra leader from
Inter's twinned Serie D club Varese, was run over while Inter
fans armed with hammers, sickles and iron bars attacked Napoli
vans and coaches.
Piovella told police that Belardinelli was "slowly" crushed
by the two rightside wheels of "a very slow-moving" dark car,
according to a copy of the arrest warrant which ANSA has seen.
The violence spurred a hooliganism row which also concerned
monkey chants at Napoli's Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly.
Italy's sporting judge closed the San Siro for the next two
Inter games, and the ultras' curva for a further one.
Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said closing stadiums was
"the wrong answer".
Napoli coach Carlo Ancelotti said teams should take it upon
themselves to suspend play after racist chants, a suggestion
supported by many other Serie A bosses.
The row on Belardinelli's death and the Koulibaly chants has
been rumbling.
Interior Minister Salvini publicly came out against the
sporting judge in saying it had been wrong to make Inter play
two games behind closed doors and a third with its ultra curva
empty.
"Closing stadiums and banning fan movements penalise real
fans, who should be distinguished from the criminals, and it is
the wrong response," said Salvini.
Serie A coaches were split on Ancelotti's call to stop games
after racist chants.
Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi said he agreed with the idea.
"I agree with Ancelotti...stopping (play) can be a solution
to be tackled in the future," he said.
He said he also agreed with coaches' federation chief Renzo
Ulivieri, who had proposed the same move.
Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco also said he agreed with
Ancelotti's call to halt play.
But Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini said it would have
been a "stupid" idea to stop the match.
"The idea of suspending matches and sending people home is an
enormously stupid idea," he said.
"Some 60,000 people go to the San Siro: closing stadiums is a
decision that perplexes me".
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said he was against
stopping games and closing stadiums.
"I don't tolerate any form of racism or insults, also towards
the dead and the tragedies that have happened," he said.
"But unfortunately in Italy we have lost a little of what was
our education and respect.
"Stopping games? Closing stadiums? It's not up to us to
decide. I'm for going ahead, the problem needs to be sorted at
the root. Technology at grounds can go and get those stirring up
trouble".
Inter coach Luciano Spalletti said "the time has come to say
enough to hate in soccer" including racist chants.
AC Milan manager Gennaro Gattuso said crowds should applaud
to drown out monkey chants.
"If 50,000 people applaud above those four imbeciles, racist
chants won't be heard," he said.
Gattuso added: "Koulibaly is a tank and the opposing fans are
scared of him. Let's not hammer Italy, in other civilised
countries I've seen banana skins thrown.
"We're all the same, black and white. We mustn't forget
Heysel, Scirea or Superga".
Premier Giuseppe Conte said in his end-of-year press
conference that Belardinelli's death was "unacceptable" and he
was in favour of suspending Serie A "for a fruitful reflection".
He said, however, that he would "leave the decision up to the
competent authorities".
Milan Prefect Renato Saccone said there would be a meeting of
the city's security committee in January.
Salvini said he would meet both ultra and other fan groups in
the New Year.
Three Inter fans were arrested after the trouble: Luca Da
Ros, Francesco Baj and Simone Tira, all under 30.
It was Da Ros who fingered Piovella as the alleged mastermind
behind the orchestrated assault.
"It's Piovella who decides," Da Ros said.
Koulibaly and Napoli's Italy striker Lorenzo Insigne both got
a two-match ban from Italy's sporting judge after the match.
Koulibaly was banned for a red card issued after he applauded
the ref for booking him while Insigne was banned for insulting
the ref.
Belardinelli, the dead Inter fan, had in the past received
two five-year DASPO bans for hooliganism.
Salvini said he would call a meeting of fans groups in Serie
A and Serie B at the start of the year "so that soccer may
return to being a moment of enjoyment and not violence.
"We'll see if we can do what others have not managed to do,"
said the leader of the far-right populist League party, who is
a well-known fan of the other Milanese team, AC Milan.
Former premier Paolo Gentiloni slammed Salvini for
"consorting with ultras", referring to the minister's recent
meeting with an ultra leader he had never met before, who turned
out to have a past conviction for drug pushing.
Saturday's Serie A game between Empoli and Inter was
restricted to fans living in Tuscany.
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