Hooliganism in Italian Football: The Rise of the Ultras
Hooliganism is nothing new in the world of football; it has been a disturbing part of the sport for many, many years. The phenomenon has been closely associated with supporters of clubs in the Premier League for a long time but now it seems it is spreading
across Europe. Extreme fans of football in Italy are called Ultras and they have been trying to spread their brand of football fanaticism for a few years now. There was the horrific stabbing attack recently in the Europa League clash between Liverpool and
Naples in which Naples Ultras attacked a family of four Liverpool supporters in a vicious assault. Hopefully this trend can be reversed with effective policing and educating the Ultras in giving up their violent tendencies.
Ultras are simply the European version of hooligans in the UK and have been slowly growing in numbers in countries in Europe for the last few years. The word Ultra is derived from the Latin root ultrā which means beyond. This is a great way to describe the
behaviour of these extremely devoted fans. They are a little bit beyond normal fans and their behaviour goes beyond accepted fan behaviour. They are known for holding rallies, placing intimidating banners and have been known to use violence and intimidation
to scare and overwhelm the supporters of opposing and rival teams in the past. They even engage in violence and some of them have a total disregard for the police and their policies.
This unsettling trend in the rise of Ultras actually started in the 1960s in Italy. The underlining reason that is quoted from many sources says that the reason for the emergence in this subgroup of fans was because the price of tickets to football matches
was reduced. This statement assumes that all Ultras are of less financial means than regular fans which may not be true but there has been a long standing link between violence and poverty. Racial tension, political ideology and country differences gave these
fans an outlet to make their message heard. The oldest group of Ultras are fans of the team Hajduk Split which call themselves the Torcida and have been around since the 1950s. Slowly other teams started to see subgroups of ultra-hardcore fans emerge such
as Torino F.C’s Maratona Curva, the Sampdoria Ultras and the Boys San of Inter Milan.
Recently, the Italian football club Napoli has seen a rise in its Ultra fans, to devastating consequences. The club is the fourth most popular in the Italian Seria A and is estimated to have almost 8% of all football fans in the country along with having
5 to 6 million fans all across the world. The Napoli Ultras are a particularly violent and vocal bunch of supporters and they have been known to attack other supporters of visiting or rival teams in the past. A visiting family of four Liverpool supporters
felt the wrath of Ultra violent ideology first hand a few days ago.
A terrifying incident of violence was seen on Wednesday night when a family was stabbed and attacked by a gang of Napoli Ultras as they left a pizza parlour. The trouble took place a little bit before the incident when Napoli fans started to throw items
and objects at English fans at the pizza restaurant and as the family left the place they were attacked by a group of Ultras and a man and his son were stabbed. Even though their injuries were not life threatening, they did require the two men to be hospitalised.
Police responded to the event by arresting the Ultras involved and they recovered a large amount of weapons and Ultra paraphernalia from one of the men’s apartment. Police have stepped up patrols and are trying to crack down on violent incidents in the city.
It will be an uphill task and a programme of educating hardcore fans and trying to promote non violence and fair play might be a way to reduce the incidents of Ultra related violence in Italy and across Europe.
Hopefully, in the next few years with effective programmes, police and the governments in Europe along with FIFA, will be able to reduce the number of hooligans in Italy and people can enjoy football free from the threat of physical violence and intimidation.
Tags: