In Italy, we know it, we’re very good at spoiling the good things we can do and, in general, not good at all at hiding what we are bad at. Football is not different. Lately, the big news in the local press, especially here in Milan, has been the ban to the Curva Nord fans (aka the Inter Ultras) for the “next match”. “Where’s the news?”, you might think, it’s not the first time this year.

The Figc (Italian Football Federation) and its disciplinary commission have decided that racism has to be fought with a “zero tolerance” policy, following Uefa directives in an even stricter way, and that every single chant sung against other People (in this case Neapolitans, the famous “territorial discrimination”) must be sanctioned with a stadium ban. Well, the big news is that the “next match”, in this case, is the Milan derby, the biggest game of the year for the Milanese, let alone the ultras.

Just a bluff? Luckily, this won’t happen. Why? Because Inter’s Curva will be regularly open to the fans. The FIGC is just showing its muscles. They want to make noise. They are telling the ultras “we have the power to stop you from watching the derby, and we don’t care how much work you have put into the choreography and into the preparation of such a worldwide event” (to have an idea of the workload, check out the German movie called “Eine Reise durch die Fankurven Italiens”- you can find it here in German). They will eventually find a comma of a by-law that allows Inter to postpone the ban to the game after the derby.

Why is that? That is because the consequences of a ban would be catastrophic. Imagine the billion people watching the game asking themselves, “Why is the stadium half empty, where are the Curve and their beautiful choreographies? Where’s the electrifying atmosphere?” and the broadcasters having to explain, again and again, that “they were closed for racism”. This is the message Italian football would give to the world. The typical cure that is worse than the disease. Or to use a football metaphor, the typical own-goal.

“A derby without the Curve is not a derby”



A miscalculated strategy. In this way, however, the Figc will appear weak to the eyes of the general public, subjugated by the ultras, rather than in control. Especially after the most surprising aspect of the story, that is, the mechanism that was initiated between Inter and Milan ultras (supposedly the most extreme rivals), who joined forces against the Federation, and are now threatening to boycott the game should the decision not be overruled, leaving both the Curva Nord and the Curva Sud (Milan’s ultras stadium sector) empty, filling instead the stadium with a deafening silence.

What I believe was a premeditated strategy by the Figc, will have a terrible boomerang effect, and will be seen as a demonstration of weakness, rather than strength. A decision that they would have taken in any case (in my opinion), will appear as the direct consequence of the pressure made by the general public and, in particular, by the ultras. The Figc should have closed one eye (one ear?), and applied some common sense in the first place, avoiding all this negative publicity to the Serie A.

With this I’m not saying that rules shouldn’t be applied: if there’s a rule, it should be respected and applied. But is it fair to challenge such rule? Well, if the rule is wrong, yes. It is not the principle I challenge, but the feasibility. Who wouldn’t want fans cheering only for their teams, and never against the opponents? But what is the point of having stricter rules in a country - Italy - that isn’t used to respecting normal ones? Racism is one thing, another thing are insults between Italians coming from different cities. Even Michel Platini, Uefa’s president, said that the “territorial discrimination is just an Italian concept”.

In Italy we have a say: “Tirarsi la zappa sui piedi”, literally to hit your feet with a hoe, and it is used to underline one’s self-destructive attitude. The Federation is doing just that: in an eagerness to demonstrate its goodwill, the Figc is just ridiculing itself, and Italian football.