Violent typhus, the Aic report, Gravina: “Daspo is not enough”

Episodes of violence around the world of football are on the rise again and concern is growing. It is evident in the words of the FIGC president Gabriele Gravina, on the sidelines of the presentation of the AIC report “Footballers under fire!”: “There is a particularly delicate climate that cannot be underestimated. The data is worrying and highlights the need on the part of the institutions, us first, to continue to build a sort of shield against aggression brick by brick”. Then he emphasizes a particular aspect: “Beyond the cases of physical violence – he adds – which in our competitions have decreased considerably, there is a sort of public court on social media that is of great concern. All of this requires intervention drastic on our part, a systemic action to counter forms of violence linked to keyboard lions”. But the president is also fighting hard for the certainty of punishment: “We need heavier sanctions, not only from us but also from the judges. Anyone identified by the police for acts of violence cannot get away with a detention of a “now or a day and then with a Daspo. For us, the Daspo is no longer sufficient. We need stronger sanctions that really punish these offenders, the rules we have adopted are particularly effective in terms of contrasting the fight against racism and to territorial discrimination. What is needed now is greater collaboration between players in the world of football and sport through greater and better use of technology”.

ABODI AND THE FANS

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Also present at the conference was the Minister of Sport Andrea Abodi, who is in full agreement with Gravina on the certainty of the penalty (“Il Daspo is not enough”), but who deems it necessary to go through the school (with the Aic the players will be brought in institutions). Then the minister highlights another aspect: “The one on violence is not a cold statistic but a cry of alarm. It is difficult to understand, because certain banners enter stadiums, even clubs must begin to sever the equivocal relationship with the fans. For every violent person who leaves the stadium, three normal people enter, the families. Consistency choices are needed, the commitment is renewed and growth because obviously it is not enough. The worst example comes from professional football, there is a lot of influencer even on the pitch “, remarked Abodi, also pointing the finger at “executives who feel they are bosses”. So he comments on Jankto’s coming out: “Everything that is an expression of sincerity must be seen as a positive fact. When you are unable to confess your choice of life it means that the country is not yet mature and completely democratic”.

CALCAGNO AND ZANIOLO

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The report, which refers to the past season, analyzed 121 episodes. 68% of violent acts affected Serie A players, 85% professionals, 2% players from youth leagues. 83% are aimed at the individual footballer: the reasons are above all performance (44%) and racism (43%), 60% occur inside the stadium and 40% outside (training pitches, commute to work), 36% come from fans of their own team. The president of the Aic Umberto Calcagno underlines: “The situation is worrying, there is a trend that I do not like. More and more aggressions towards individuals and friendly fire which has new methods that must lead us to reflect. The hashtag of this report was #nonènormale. Something more needs to be done. If half of the episodes are linked to contractual performances or disputes, it probably means that we have probably not been good at making people understand that the footballer is a person, a boy like them. We need a normalization of the footballer figure”. Calcagno then intervened on the Zaniolo case: “I am very sorry that issues concerning, not so much the performance in the field, but the contractual, employment relationship, have conditioned Zaniolo’s professional choices and also those of the company on the market. They depend on subjects who they are unrelated to the employment relationship. We have to normalize our world for this. I think that in retrospect the situation could have been handled better by everyone but it can’t be an excuse for the violence or what happened. It can’t be that we can’t argue with a coach or a president because there are these kinds of consequences. It’s a relationship that needs to be resolved in that context.”