Existential Damage

 

Once again, a club has been hijacked by the actions of a fan or group of fans and forced to pay, in this case 1,500 Euros to a fan in Napoli, who was “damaged” by banners in a Napol v Inter Milan match at the Guiseppe Meazza Stadium in Milan last October. The banners in question were a response to a work stoppage organized by the Camorra-run, garbage collectors who were in disagreement with landfill operators and the government, causing a build-up of refuse in the streets of Napoli. They mentioned Naples as the “sewer of Italy”, another one that called residents “cholera sufferers” and others that said, “Neapolitans have got tuberculosis”. The anonymous fan was left “indignant and deeply hurt” and sued the club for “existential damage” with the verdict coming in his favor this week despite the clubs arguing that the courts had no jjurisdiction. The club and the supporters had already been sited by the league, but the Italian courts had the ultimate say.

 

I won’t get into much of a value judgment on what was said. The banners were pretty idiotic and petty. It’s typical of the usual North/South animosities that have been in place and certainly not the first salvo in such a highly charged rivalry; one that has decades of history between the two clubs and the two groups of supporters. I also won’t go into the legalities, as the details of Italian law and how it differs from U.S. law is ultimately beyond me, and other countries do have different definitions of personal freedom, but in my opinion, “what sort of damage exactly was done?” Was this an isolated incident? Was this any different from the scores of other times that Northern fans have reaped scorn at Southerners in the past? Lastly, will it ultimately correct the behavior in question?

 

I don’t think so really. I’m all for correcting past wrongs and solving this ethnic problem but this is not the

time nor the case to do that with. This smacks of one opportunistic fan sticking it to the establishment and while I usually side with guys like him in these cases, I just can’t get by the fact that he was left with “existential damages” from reading a series of banners.

Winds of Change?

A year ago, the English Premier League dominance on the world stage was rightly assured. Two English teams in the final of the Champions League, three of four in the semis, we assume that it is a trend, a watershed mark that will continue, but anyone with a sense of history in the game knows that European football is cyclical. Sooner rather than later a club, or a series of clubs, will step up from one of the other top leagues in Europe and challenge the Manchester United’s, Chelsea’s or Liverpool’s and repeat that feat of 3 of 4 in the semis. If so, then from where?

 

Most would often say Spain, they are the European Champions of Euro 2008, they have a young squad of brilliant players, the majority of which play nationally in La Liga; which is very important in my mind. Real Madrid are learning how to win again in the Champions League after a return to form domestically. Barcelona have endured two turbulent years, fueled by an out-of control dressing room, over-inflamed egos, and a sometimes lax director, but are about ready to return the challenge of the madridistas. Villareal have progressed in 5 years from relegation also-rans to title contenders as their neighbors Valencia have done much the same but in reverse. You might see a Real Madrid win again, and soon I might add, but the odds are further along for three of four in Spain to win.

 

In my opinion though, the sleeping giant of Italian football has been woken. AC Milan, recently content to give short shrift to the scudetto have seen rivals Inter win the championship twice on the field in succession, secured the more important off-field signings, and more importantly have just seen a media-conscious manager like Jose Mourinho give instant credibility to the often fractious nerazzurri side. Securing Ronaldinho is a coup on so many terms, but having him in partnership with Kaka  and Pato will be epic. Roma have seen better days, but they have one of the most exciting young coaches in Serie A, Lazio will be better and let no one forget (let alone me for my obvious disrespect last year) that Juventus will be a force to be dealt with. They have an aging squad certainly, but they have an interesting mix of competitive youngsters as well, and they have all of the resources of the Agnelli family behind them (wink, wink). Add an exciting side like Udinese, the creativity of Sampdoria and lest we not forget probably the most consistent Italian club over the last 5 years Fiorentina, and Serie A is in my opinion the most competitive league top to bottom in the world. The top 4 is back in business (AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus and AS Roma) but they have serious competition from 3 or 4 other squads. They all have quality home-grown depth and they have arguably the best managers, coaches and trainers in the world. They have quality youth development, some fine feeder programs at clubs like Udinese, Siena and Empoli, and they have some of the best fan support in Europe, great derbies like Roma/Lazio, Milan/Inter, Genoa/Samdoria, and Juve/rest of Italy. If (and I realize these are big ifs) they could fix a troubled media rights compact, control fan and stadium violence, and curtail corruption they obviously could compete on the world stage with England and Spain as they did so successfully in the 1980’s and 1990’s. If you think they can’t, remember that  the current UEFA chairman Michel Platini was once the darling of the Turin alps in the bianconeri midfield.

Italian football : An organized sport?

For a short while there in my pre-pubescent youth, I got quite into watching wrestling. It was called the WWF back then. They changed the name of it later and thus in one fell swoop remedied the rampant confusion scores of us had between large, sweaty man throwing each other to the floor and wildlife conservation.
Anyway, once I got over the Santa Claus-like revelation that the whole thing was fake, I remember being impressed by the organization of it all, the plot lines and the pay offs to those plot lines and so on.

This week, Italy’s pink sporting daily, “La Gazzetta Dello Sport” published an alternative Serie A table where refereeing errors were corrected and interestingly enough, in this parallel universe of justice and perfection, the league leader is. . . Juventus. Not only that but they top Inter by three points, rather than the twelve points that they trail the Nerazzuri now.

Other notable differences from the real standings is that Milan sit comfortably in that  fourth spot, five points clear of Fiorentina in fifth, and then. . . . well, that’s it, really.

Yes, Juve and Milan are getting the right royal shafting it seems.

So it got me wondering. Not so much about whether there is a specifically Inter-sponsored conspiracy against Juventus and Milan – the idea of that is too exhausting, depressing and let’s face it, unlikely – but firstly, does your average non-Juventino or non-Milanista really care about this finding? And even more tellingly perhaps, can it be seen as acceptable for Juventus and Milan to fight with one hand behind their back for a while because it’ll be for the good for the spectacle of the Italian game anyway?

I ask this because bizarrely enough I’m beginning to see a number of things taking shape in Italy and post-calciopoli that I think is going to a lead to a rather spectacular revival of Serie a in the eyes of the world that few would have expected so soon after Luciano Moggi’s fondness for the phone call was exposed.

What’s changed about this post-calcopoli world? Well the main one obviously is that we have a new winner. An imperious Inter. They look every inch the part of champions, decent football at times, lots of goals, win even when they’re rubbish and they get dodgy refereeing decisions going for them left and right. All that is a new phenomenon. For them.

Next, are Roma who have managed to keep their coach, star players (bar Chivu) and have added to their squad with relative ease of late. Again, not the case in the years prior. Last Sunday’s performance at Siena aside, they’re getting stronger.

Then there’s the teams just below that size or standard; Fiorentina and this year’s underachievers, Lazio. Prandelli’s team from Firenze is getting to be a pretty solid proposition and you would really fancy them to keep hold of young players such as Montolivo and Pazzini, to name but two. They are also pretty handy at getting in players also. They too are getting stronger.

Lazio, who arguably overachieved last year getting into the Champions League, squandered their progress last summer with a catastrophic transfer campaign which left them short handed. They have been busy bring player in this January window, but more importantly have kept continuity by sticking with Delio Rossi as coach, who you get the idea is actually good for them.

Napoli too, are now up with the big boys and seem pretty astute in the transfer market with Lavezzi, Hamsik and Gargano their performing summer arrivals, and the other week they tweaked the nose of Inter by signing the coveted youngster, Daniele Mannini from Brescia.

It all seems a slightly fairer fight these days. It seems everyone in Serie A breathes a little easier now and moves around a little more without fear of getting squashed.

With all that mentioned and a new collective TV rights deal on its way, which would resemble more the English Premier League’s allocation of TV money, there’s a real chance that a “Seven Sisters” could emerge once more. Just like the bygone days where serie a was king. A big seven. Big city teams, with big money and all with the ability to attract talent from all over the world.

Italy might not be all that far behind as those in the English media would seem to suggest.

Add to that there are whispers that Poland and Ukraine are struggling with preparations for Euro 2012, and Italy has declared itself ready to take their place. A lot needs to happen, or I suppose in the case of the currently elected hosts, not to happen, before Italy gets the green light; but such an event transpiring would signal a boost in renovation and investment in the pennisula’s stadia. Much needed.

Now it is Italy. And things can always implode. But there are signs.

And because, I suppose, Milan and Juventus will always be there or thereabouts with the resources they each have, anything that is going on now, well it’s all for the better.

And if the flag stays down when the Milan or Juventus defenses are breached, if the ref really didn’t see that shirt tug on Kaka or that Trezeguet’s chest is mistaken for an arm, it’s all for the greater good. Just while things are set straight.

The sad thing about life after calciopoli was that it made anything seem possible and that now even when things seem a little better, you still think somebody somewhere may be pulling the strings in one direction or another. Even if it is just for the excitement and the spectacle.

Just as they do in wrestling.

Ross Howard