(By Paul Virgo)
The head of Italian sport warned
Tuesday behaviour at the country's soccer grounds was getting
out of hand after last weekend's soccer action was marred by
anti-Semitism
The widow of former Juventus great Gaetano Scirea on Monday
threatened to withdraw her late husband's name from a stand at
the Italian champions' Turin stadium after a group of fans sang
anti-Semitic chants during Sunday's 1-0 home win over
Fiorentina.
Renzo Gattegna, president of the Union of Italian Jewish
Communities, also expressed outrage and called for the fans
responsible to be identified and banned from football.
On Sunday fans of the Florence visitors, meanwhile,
uncovered banners gloating about the deaths of 39 Juventus fans
at 1985 Heysel Stadium disaster before the start of the 1985
European Cup final against Liverpool.
"It makes you reflect to say the least," said Giovanni
Malagò, the president of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI),
when asked about the threat by Scirea's wife Mariella.
"But, above all, it causes sadness and embarrassment.
"We are slowly sliding to a situation that is out of
control.
"The soccer world has to look itself in the face with
honesty given what is happening in the stadiums, as these are no
longer isolated cases".
A number of Juventus fans have been reported to
prosecutors over banners displayed at a derby match last month
celebrating the 1949 Superga air disaster in which 31 people
were killed, including 18 players of city rivals Torino.
One of the two banners displayed during the February 23
match at the Juventus Stadium, which Juve won 1-0, read: "when
you fly, think of Toro".
Juventus, who lead Serie A by 14 points and look set to win
a third consecutive league title, were fined 25,000 euros over
the banners.
Several Serie A teams have had to play matches with parts
of their stadium closed this season after the Italian Soccer
Federation (FIGC) introduced stricter punishments to crack down
on racism, which has dogged football here for years, and
so-called regional discrimination.
Second-placed Roma, for example, had to play their last two
home games with several sections of their stadium closed due to
anti-Neapolitan chants by fans, including calls for Mt Vesuvius
to erupt to "clean" Naples.
Nevertheless, there were more offensive chants in Roma's
1-0 defeat at Napoli on Sunday and the case has been referred to
FIGC prosecutors, along with the Juventus-Fiorentina one.
Followers of many clubs, including Napoli, have rebelled
against the punishment of regional discrimination, saying it
targets the leg-pulling that is a traditional part of Italian
soccer.
"Closing the stands seems to have created other problems,"
said Malagò.
"So it's necessary to look at things differently".
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