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      Tragic Error By Italian Police Starts Fans Rampage

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      redkenny
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      Tragic Error By Italian Police Starts Fans Rampage
      Nov 12, 2007 12:58:28 am
      http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7090017.stm

      Italy fans rampage after killing

      Italian football fans have reacted violently inside and outside stadiums following the police shooting of a Lazio supporter.
      Gabriele Sandri, 26, was shot in what police called a "tragic error" as they tried to stop violence between rival fans at a motorway stop in Tuscany.

      A match between Atalanta and AC Milan was stopped as fans and police clashed. There was violence at other games.

      Later hundreds of fans rampaged in Rome and there were more protests in Milan.

      The worst violence was in the capital, where hundreds of armed fans attacked a police barracks and the Italian Olympic Committee headquarters.

      Sunday's late match between AS Roma and Cagliari had been postponed as a precaution but fans wielding rocks and clubs turned up outside the Stadio Olimpico.

      Security guards in the Olympic headquarters barricaded themselves in as fans outside smashed windows and burned vehicles as they clashed with police.

      The mob blocked off one end of a bridge over the Tiber and ordered motorists to leave the area.

      A bus was torched and scores of police were injured.

      Fans and police also clashed in central Milan near the offices of the broadcaster RAI.

      In Bergamo, where Atalanta were playing AC Milan, police and fans clashed ahead of the match.

      The game was abandoned 10 minutes after kick-off, when fans tried to smash down a barrier and force their way onto the pitch.

      In Siena, supporters shouted "murderers" at police.

      There was also violence at lower league games in southern Italy.

      Seven of the top league games started 10 minutes late with players wearing black armbands although atmospheres remained tense.

      Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi called for a full investigation into the shooting and said the violence was "very worrying".

      'Tragic error'

      Mr Sandri, a 26-year-old disc jockey from Rome, was a Lazio fan on his way to a match with Inter Milan.

      Lazio fans and supporters of Juventus on their way to a match at Parma reportedly clashed at the service station near Arezzo.

      Mr Sandri was apparently shot while in a car outside the motorway restaurant.

      Police suggested he may have been killed by a warning shot.

      The exact details of the shooting are unclear and an investigation is under way.

      "It was a tragic error," said Arezzo police chief Vincenzo Giacobbe.

      "Our agent had intervened to prevent the brawl between these two groups, who had not been identified as fans," Mr Giacobbe said, according to the Italian news agency Ansa.

      The Inter-Lazio game was postponed.

      In April the Italian government introduced a law aimed at stamping out football hooliganism.

      It was enacted after a policeman was killed in rioting at a match in Sicily in February.

      The BBC's Frances Kennedy in Rome says that despite the new anti-hooliganism measures, Sunday's explosion of anger shows that violence is never far from the surface.



      What a horrible turn of events. Such a tragic loss of life but should it really come to something like this?

      My sympathy goes out to Gabriele Sandri's family and friends.

       
      Oldred
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      Re: Tragic Error By Italian Police Starts Fans Rampage
      Reply #1: Nov 12, 2007 01:33:13 pm
      If anything like this happened in the UK we would be crucified all over Europe and there would be a call to ban all our supporters.
      srslfc
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      Re: Tragic Error By Italian Police Starts Fans Rampage
      Reply #2: Nov 12, 2007 01:41:20 pm
      If anything like this happened in the UK we would be crucified all over Europe and there would be a call to ban all our supporters.

      Exactly what I was thinking Oldred. Also this is not the first time Italian football has had problems over recent seasons.
      kelv78
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      Re: Tragic Error By Italian Police Starts Fans Rampage
      Reply #3: Nov 12, 2007 02:01:02 pm
      If anything like this happened in the UK we would be crucified all over Europe and there would be a call to ban all our supporters.

      Exactly if it was a Champions League game all hell would be let loose blaming the English.
      Cy
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      Re: Tragic Error By Italian Police Starts Fans Rampage
      Reply #4: Nov 12, 2007 05:03:20 pm
      My thoughs are going to the family of Gabriele Sandri, and I really hope that this will make things seriously change over there, unfortunately it is not the police the problem but:

      1/ The attitude of a portion of the fans the real hooligans of the 21th century who keep acting like scums during games without any real sanctions or control....
      2/ The attitude of their Government and Italian FA on the issue who recently passed ridiculous law to try to stop the massacre...in vain..

      Where are the players in the media calling for calm or the professional player association with a campaign on all Italian media.?.I appreciated that they are not responsible like 1/ and 2/ but surely they are the people these "fans" would consider to listen..

      The only way this can be deal with properly will be with the UEFA and the FIFA to step in and send a message loud and clear with a total ban for 5 years for the italian FA to put their house in order...It is also acceptable to say that if this was in England the UEFA wouldn't think twice...go figures..
      JD
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      Re: Tragic Error By Italian Police Starts Fans Rampage
      Reply #5: Nov 12, 2007 05:59:29 pm
      I think the Italian sides have been long overdue a ban.

      But money talks.

      Let's face it - they were found guilty of match fixing and still got back in the tournaments the next year.
      Court LFC
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      Re: Tragic Error By Italian Police Starts Fans Rampage
      Reply #6: Nov 12, 2007 06:29:47 pm
      I think the Italian sides have been long overdue a ban.

      But money talks.

      Let's face it - they were found guilty of match fixing and still got back in the tournaments the next year.

      There is definatley something dodgy about the Italian FA & the clubs.

      Quote
      In 1985 Liverpool again reached the European Cup final. The match was against Juventus at the Heysel Stadium but before kick-off, disaster struck. Liverpool fans breached a fence separating the two groups of supporters and charged the Juventus fans. The resulting weight of people caused a retaining wall to collapse, killing thirty-nine fans, mostly Italians.[7] This tragedy is known as the Heysel Stadium disaster. The match was played regardless and Liverpool lost 1–0 to Juventus. English clubs were consequently banned from participating in European competition for five years, with Liverpool receiving a ban for ten years, which was later reduced to six. Fourteen of their fans received convictions for involuntary manslaughter.

      Another example, we along with the rest of England was banned from taking part in the Champions League.  Where was the Italian sides ban?

      Why isn't anything being done about the corruption in Italian football?
      Nicola
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      Re: Tragic Error By Italian Police Starts Fans Rampage
      Reply #7: Nov 12, 2007 08:28:07 pm
      Italian football has just gone beyond crazy now. How many more people have to die before they sort it out?!

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