Soccer: Fans behind Genoa 'shame' must be punished Players forced to remove shirts by ultras on rampage
The fans who brought shame on Italian football by causing Genoa's 4-1 home defeat to be suspended for 45 minutes must be punished, the head of the Italian Soccer Federation said on Monday Giancarlo Abete.
Genoa fans threw smoke bombs and climbed onto pitch-side barriers on Sunday, forcing the home side to remove their shirts because the players were supposedly unfit to wear them.
The scenes were reminiscent of the rioting by visiting fans that caused an Italy-Serbia Euro 2012 qualifier to be abandoned in October 2010.
The team's acquiescence to Genoa's hardcore 'ultra' supporters has been criticised almost as much as the trouble itself.
"It's unthinkable that the world of football can give in to blackmail by people who are identifiable and can be punished," Abete said.
"Episodes should be reported to the authorities (when the clubs are victims of them). You cannot just say that it's always the same people, otherwise you spark off mechanisms of 'omerta' (compliance) that can damage the world of football". Genoa President Enrico Preziosi said on Italian radio on Monday that the club had used "good sense" to avoid "something worse" happening.
The image of Italian soccer has been damaged in recent years by incidents of racism and violence, including a riot at a 2007 match in Sicily in which a policeman was killed, as well as two match-fixing scandals, one of which is ongoing.
"Shameful, Shameful, Shameful," said Gianni Petrucci, the president of the Italian Olympic Committee, the governing body of all sport in Italy.Gianni Petrucci, the president of the Italian Olympic Committee, the governing body of all sport in Italy.
"What happened in Genoa again represents the worst side of Italian soccer. You don't bargain over the team shirt. Sporting sacrilege has been committed".
The defeat left Genoa just one point above the relegation zone and Italy's oldest club look set to sack coach Alberto Malesani for the second time this season and replace him with Luigi De Canio.