Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Adesso basta!

Am I the only one getting a little bit tired of how Italian football is being portrayed at the moment in the British media? OK, there is a problem. No doubt the Catania v Palermo incidents were disgraceful and demand change. But you would be under the impression that to go to a Serie A game was to take your life in your hands.

I've been to plenty of matches and never felt the slightest bit of danger. I have never had a scooter land on my head, never been spat on or been struck by a projectile. Indeed, I have always enjoyed the atmosphere. Hopefully, that will continue in future.

I am not sticking my head in the sand and saying that we don't have a problem. We clearly do. But to portray the country as a den of violent disgrace goes too far in my opinion. It is not as if the UK is perfect.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/cardiff_city/6249261.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/fa_cup/6151618.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/s/swindon_town/6191189.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/6209342.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/5372228.stm

I know Italy has more serious issues. I am not trying to make light of them. But, please, spare us some of the sanctimonious coverage.

6 comments:

martinobhoy said...

Running battles on Lothian Road is the norm on a Friday night. It doesn't need to involve football!

I've also been to a few games in Italy and have never felt in any danger however I've never been to a derby match and certainly not one in Sicily.

And yes I watched Grandstand on Saturday afternoon and the moral high ground taken by the likes of Mark Lawrenson was sickening.

Venezian said...

A french policeman was shot after a psg game this season, and yet you don't get all the coverage about that.

It once again demonstrates that they view us in an unfavourable light, and as soon as there is anything to criticise us for, they fall over themselves to have a dig. It's pathetic - but not at all surprising. John Snow tried to say to James Richardson yesterday that Italian football was in a worse state than in South America. Yes, that's the same South America where referees have been shot, beaten and chased out the grounds by fans; the same south america where a player was shot for scoring an own goal...Get real people.

Anonymous said...

It's easy for the British media to be rather haughty over football related events like this. Especially when it happens to someone else. They tend to have a short and selective memory when it suits them and forget about events at home. And, some of them are just *really crap* broadcasters of which Mark Lawrenson stands out (in a league of his own). Here's another example; I heard Ray Wilkins on 5-live (he's the Italian expert) talk about the North-South divide in Italy ?? Like that's got *anything* to do with what happened on Sunday !

But, to be fair, there's not been a great deal of coverage in the broadsheets, only the bare facts as they stand. I think they understand the old saying about stones and glass houses. There's good journalism and there's bad journalism of which the BBC and the tabloids represent some of the very worst and - usually - C4s some of the very best (but not last night apparently, and no I didn't see it, and nor do I work for them). However, I'm not sure that there's a concerted conspiricy against Italian football, just a genuine ignornace - which is shameful for any journalist/broadcater commenting on the subject.

One of the more interesting discussions that I've heard was by Gabriele Marcotti on yesterdays "The-Game" podcast (www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/audio_video/podcasts/sport).
It's worth a listen, check it out.

From martinobhoy's post switch "Lothian Road" with "Mansfield Road". It happens everywhere unfortunately :o(

Spangly Princess said...

I couldn't agree more, there's a lot of smug sanctimonious crap beign spouted from what I've seen, though of course am over here so I don't get th full brunt of it. Luckily. for this reason I've been trying to cover it in some detail on my blog, just to try to give a slightly more balanced perspective. I have also to add that the only time at an italian game I've ever been remotely afraid for my own physical safety it was entirely as a result of the police's actions (at the san siro last year). I went to the away derby on my own and felt absolutely safe and in no danger whatsoever. Christ, I'd rather go to the away derby at Lazio than that at Spurs.

ginkers said...

Glad to see I'm not alone in feeling the way that I do. There are certainly problems everywhere which don't get the profile that events in Italy sometimes do.

Although, as you say Trent, there is good journalism and bad journalism - I should know that!

Anonymous said...

...yeah being a Shark yourself :oD