Remember the story of Lapalisse, the French marshal who died at the Battle of Pavia in 1525? They wrote about him that 15 minutes before he died he was alive, hence lapalissean truth. Now, that the world of ultras was in contact with organized crime and that soccer clubs were, in general, in a state of subservience to ultras, was precisely a lapidary truth. The Milan investigation is more organic and profound than those of the past, the clubs involved are among the main ones in the country, Inter and Milan, and Milan l’è sempre un gran Milan, that is, a place where money goes around.
Where the money rolls in come the mobsters and organized supporter leaders who once, violence aside, were also poetic little heroes of a passionate people: now, in wiretaps, they say they don’t give a damn about the team and only think about the money. The circular economy of Evil has made its rounds, and the juiciest round is in the theater of soccer, namely the stadium. Pressure and resale of tickets, control of activities outside the stands – from sandwiches to gadgets -, pressure on clubs even for the soccer market and away trips. And then beatings, punitive expeditions, dangerous intersections with the world of rappers, even the rich ones (of course, follow the money).
The clubs are offended parties for now, but both the anti-mafia prosecutor Melillo and sports justice want to see this through. If instead of subservience (Inzaghi says he will hear from Marotta and Zanetti, i.e., the managers, for the tickets for the Champions final in Istanbul) they will talk about shady controls or scary connivance, the risk is commissioning. Will soccer change from tomorrow after this repulisti? Perhaps not immediately, but it will have to start somewhere.
The hooligans in England have been defeated. Let’s try it ourselves. And let’s above all change everyone, including us journalists, the mentality. Just say that certain things have nothing to do with the ball and that the ball should be talked about in terms of tactics and pure performance. Otherwise it ends up like with Lapalisse, fifteen minutes before we wrote we were blindfolded.
The article The scandal-less ultras scandal comes from TheNewyorker.
