Stadium violence continues, incidents continue. Why not impose a lifetime ban?

HOW TO STOP VIOLENCE IN STADIUMS –

"Since I became president of CONI, out of respect for this public office, I cannot comment on sentences. But we must reflect on violence in the world of football and make strong decisions...": Giovanni Malagò, president of CONI , avoids adjectives when judging the 26-year sentence handed down to Daniele De Santis for the killing of Ciro Esposito in May 2014, before the Fiorentina-Napoli match. But he doesn't shy away from addressing the continuing recurrence of incidents that risk reducing the football circus to a popular and macabre ritual.

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• The fact remains that two years after that tragic day, the violence surrounding the world of football has never stopped.

I can't deny it: this is the curse that characterizes a wonderful sport in Italy. However, every episode has its own story, and if you're referring to what happened in Rome last Saturday night, we're talking about a very serious incident that occurred miles away from the stadium.

• Does this make a difference?

At the Olimpico that night, everything went smoothly, yet for the Coppa Italia final, 75 fans from both teams were in the stadium, with no restrictions whatsoever. A spectacle, football aside, without any flaws or incidents.

• A few hours later, however, a bar was attacked, with 71 fans reported and one arrested for attempted murder.

The ongoing investigations have not yet clarified whether this was an episode of football-related violence or something else entirely. If the former, we would be witnessing a new dimension to the phenomenon; if the latter, it would be pure and simple delinquency.

• The investigation will clarify. This, however, is a number that needs no clarification, and it comes from the Interior Ministry: 600 incidents of assault on match officials in football, last season alone.

This is the darkness of football, a very serious raw nerve in the country that affects many aspects, including cultural and social ones. Denying it means having no sense of reality or, worse, burying one's head and eyes in the sand.

• The answer of erecting walls and divisions in stadiums does not seem to be decisive.

It's not enough. And I understand that we can't ask the impossible of law enforcement and those responsible for ensuring safety. We need more.

• In fact, I would like to point out that, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior, 200 police officers and Carabinieri are deployed every week in Italy to ensure stadium security.

It's a huge figure, I realize. And besides giving the impression of a sport surrounded by law enforcement, it shows just how high the alarm level is.

• She says: something else is needed. What, specifically?

I support a literal application of the hard line that led to the end of football violence in England: swift trials, clear and severe penalties. Interventions that make the repression mechanism through the justice system exemplary.

• Is it possible to do this in Italy?

I understand the skepticism surrounding this question. Let's just say it's very complicated, but I don't see any alternatives.

• How is the hard line expressed in concrete terms?

For example, with the lifetime ban. No longer a temporary ban from attending a sporting event, a football match, or an event the fan is eager to attend, but a ban that becomes a sort of life sentence in sport. And it lasts a lifetime.

• And the speed of judgments?

To stop violence in football, we need to get to fast-track trials. Almost on the spot.

• Can you give me some information about trial times in Italy?

I know some of them, but stopping violence in football is a national decision, in the interest of all citizens, not just athletes and fans. And as such, it must be organized, thought out, and implemented.

(In the cover image, the president of CONI, Giovanni Malagò . Source: Facebook )

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