A fan was killed before the Inter v Napoli match while Kalidou Koulibaly faced alleged racist abuse from the stands during it
It should have been an occasion to celebrate. For the first time since 1971, a round of Serie A fixtures was being played on 26 December – St Stephen’s Day, to most Italians, though the sporting press seemed eager to embrace the English lexicon of “Boxing Day football”. More than a quarter of a million fans attended games up and down the country, and many were treated to entertaining fare.
In Bergamo, Atalanta became only the second team this season to take points off Juventus. Despite falling behind in the second minute, they roared back to lead 2-1 and appeared to be in the driving seat with the champions reduced to 10 men. That was until Cristiano Ronaldo, left out of Juventus’ starting lineup for the first time this season, came off the bench to head home the equaliser from close range.
There was no such seesawing drama at Marassi, but there was a scandalous backheel volley from Fabio Quagliarella as Sampdoria defeated Chievo 2-0. The 35-year-old has struck in eight consecutive games, yet his goal-of-the-day claim would be usurped by a teenager scoring for the first time as a senior pro. Nicolò Zaniolo put both the Sassuolo defender Gianmarco Ferrari and goalkeeper Andrea Consigli on their backsides before he dispatched a mocking chip into the far corner of the net, scoring Roma’s third goal in a 3-1 home win.
The Boxing Day schedule was to find its denouement in a clash between Inter and Napoli, third against second, at San Siro. However a match that began with Mauro Icardi hitting the crossbar from the kick-off, and ended with a 91st-minute Lautaro Martínez winner, would be remembered instead for the worst possible reasons.
Before the game, rival supporters had fought outside the stadium. One, Daniele Belardinelli, was killed.
At a press conference on Thursday morning, Milan’s police commissioner, Marcello Cardona, said a combined group of Inter, Varese and Nice ultras (elements of those clubs’ fanbases have developed ties over the years) carrying wooden bats and metal bars had attacked a minibus taking Napoli supporters to the game. During the melee that followed, with many trying to flee the scene, Belardinelli was struck by an SUV.
The driver of the vehicle has not yet been identified and Cardona indicated it was possible they did not realise they had hit someone. Belardinelli, a 35-year-old Varese ultra known to police from a previous stadium ban, was tended to first by some Napoli supporters and then driven to the San Carlo hospital by a separate group of Inter fans.
Two individuals had been arrested by the time of Cardona’s press conference and a third was being sought. In the meantime, media outlets shared chaotic footage of fans fighting in a street lit up by flares.
If those were the scenes outside San Siro, then there was a toxic atmosphere inside as well. A section of Inter ultras in the Curva Nord targeted Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly with alleged racist chants and monkey noises. Three times the stadium’s public address called for them to stop, to no avail.
How greatly did that atmosphere contribute to the player’s eventual red card? He had played well up to the 80th minute when he was penalised for pulling Matteo Politano back during an Inter counterattack. His opponent made a meal of the contact but this was a foul all the same.
Koulibaly was booked and responded with sarcastic applause. His dissent earned him a second yellow. Both cards were completely justified and yet how unjust it felt to see him walk off the pitch as the cretinous contingent who had abused him celebrated in the stands.
The match was poised at 0-0 when he went off. Napoli almost snatched a winner soon after, Piotr Zielinski seeing his shot cleared off the line by Kwadwo Asamoah. Instead, Martínez arrived to sweep home from the middle of the penalty area that Koulibaly had so stoutly defended.
At full-time, Carlo Ancelotti revealed Napoli had made three requests for the game to be suspended. “Matches can be suspended but we need to know when,” he said. “Is it after the fifth chant, or how many more after that? … Next time we’ll just stop the game ourselves. Even if that means having the result awarded against us.”
His words evoked memories of Kevin-Prince Boateng leading a walk off by Milan players against Pro Patria in 2013, though that was only a friendly. It is dispiriting to see how little has been done in five years to address racism in the stands of Serie A’s stadiums – although the news that Inter will play two home games behind closed doors as a consequence of this incident is both welcome and came refreshingly quickly.
The same may be said of efforts to eliminate violent elements from football crowds. Cardona stated he will request a ban on Inter fans travelling to any away games for the rest of this season, and for a closure of the Curva Nord for a period of time as well.
Further measures may follow. Perhaps, for once, even some meaningful change. History, though, does not offer much encouragement on that front. This is not the first time this decade a fan has been killed outside an Italian football stadium. And not even the first time a player has suffered alleged racial abuse this season.
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