It doesn’t matter if you like the EPL, Serie A or La Liga this is a call for us to unite

By: Marco | October 14th, 2008

This is a great article for everyone to read.

My debate today was originally going to be on the Italian goalkeeping crisis. This was until I stumbled across a story on SKY Sports detailing the stadium scuffles that occurred between Bulgaria and Italy fans in Sofia on Saturday night.

“Nothing wrong with reporting this story,” you may think. And you would be right. The problem with SKY Sports though is that the only Italian news they ever cover is either violence, racism, diving, corruption, or any other negative Calcio stereotype. It has reached the point now where it is obvious that this is a deliberate and dirty ploy to damage the image and integrity of Italian football.

SKY markets the Premiership as the “best league in the world”, even (probably) paying their pundits extra money for uttering this motto as often as possible. Thus, they portray every positive aspect of the league (I don’t deny there are many), while covering-up any negative features.

Yes, Italy has problems (it also has many great things that are NEVER reported by SKY). But at least the country strives, albeit often unsuccessfully, to publicly confront its problems, and does not embark on some brainwashing marketing scheme to fool the rest of the world. Yes, English stadiums are better and safer than Italian ones, there is less DOMESTIC racism and violence, the policing is far more advanced, and there have been no Calciopoli-type scandals in recent years – I am not disputing any of this for one second.

But, do you honestly believe that England is the squeaky clean country it is made out to be? If you do, then you also believed that Britney Spears was a virgin up until a few years ago. Any downbeat and malevolent episodes are totally ignored by Murdoch’s media, and those that may emerge in a deliberately diluted form, are just swept under the carpet.

If you were to listen to SKY you would be made to believe that racism is completely extinct in English grounds. Well, I have been to a number of Anglo-Italian games in the past decade and been subjected to vicious first-hand racism in English stadiums (I’m sure many overseas readers will have too). One such example was during the 1999 Champions League semi final at Old Trafford between Juventus and Manchester United. My father and I were in the Italian section, but a group of Red Devils had managed to obtain some tickets, and were situated in the row in front of us. With Juve leading 1-0 through Antonio Conte, these fans began to grow frustrated and the racist remarks started to flow. “Cheating Italian scum”, “greasy Wops”, “war cowards”, “fascists”. My father can be something of a hothead and did not hold back in his reaction, as he duly grabbed the most vocal of these idiots by the throat and was almost about to strangle him. The person sitting next to my dad stopped him, and this person ironically happened to be none other than the great Welsh/Italian boxer Joe Calzaghe, a passionate Juve supporter, who my dad is acquainted with. The Mancunian and his friends were then ejected before they risked a Jeff Lacy-style beating.

Forms of racism, just like fan violence, are customary in parts of Italy yes, but those who say they don’t take place in England are once again fooled by SKY, who refuse to report any such instances as it would risk damaging their Premiership image. It’s clever marketing, but it leads to a circle of denial and, as a result English football actually ends up suffering more. To offer two prime examples, we could talk about the foreign involvement (owners, players and coaches) in the Premiership, which is bordering on the laughable, as well as the recent struggles of the national team.

SKY is so determined to make the Premiership the best league in the world that they have destroyed the footballing soul in the country. Most fans flock along and jump on the bandwagon like a bunch of blind sheep, but I personally long for the days when the likes of Gus Caesar and Justin Edinburgh (look them up) were on show in the North London derby. Yes, they were not the best of players, in fact Caesar was atrociously bad, but at least there was some meaning then to an Arsenal against Spurs clash. Today, everything is fake and false, and I say this as someone who was once a huge fan of English football, but now feels cheated by its sell-out. Everything Michel Platini says about the Premiership is right on the money. The only people who say he is anti-English are those who have been brainwashed.

The Italian league has its issues, but it also has many things to be proud of. If SKY wants to obtain some respect from those who are not so easily led astray, I suggest they read this article, and start highlighting some of the positives about the Italian game.

The game would be beautiful if we all united together but sadly this won’t happen anytime soon.