Fascism and Football: Death and Hatred in the Soccer Stadium

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The fight that ensued was brutal, to say the least. Four Napoli fans suffered deep stab wounds and an Inter fan, who had been banned from entering the stadium because of disruptions at previous games, died in the hospital after an SUV allegedly driven by a Napoli fan ran over him before speeding off.

Then things got really bad, and nobody should have been surprised. The way “the beautiful game” has turned ugly reflects darker developments in a broader segment of the Italian and indeed the European body politic.

“They were radical fans who were, originally, apolitical and dedicated only to the colors of the team. In the mid 1990s however, the ultras became increasingly fascist in inspiration, introducing anti-Semitism, swastikas and overt racism into Italian grounds,” Jones told The Daily Beast. “The overt and increasing racism of the ultras is merely a reflection of the society from which they come, and which has repeatedly voted for neo-fascist political parties.”

Inside the stadium at the Napoli-Inter Milan match, the tension was high as word of the scuffle outside spread. Napoli's star defender Kalidou Koulibaly, a 27-year-old French-born man of Senegalese descent who has played for Napoli since 2014, was just warming up when thousands of Inter fans started making monkey sounds from the stands.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/fascism-and-football-death-and-hatred-in-the-soccer-stadium?ref=home
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It is so depressing to see Pele's beautiful game descend to this.

[underpants]

1. The hooligans re-emerge

It is just a football game

[SunSeeker]

2. Unfortunately, FIFA is hardly setting a moral example. nt

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. Hmmm. Oddly enough, American football doesn't seem to result

in such atrocities.

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4. I just don't get how Italy has allowed itself to descend into fascism, considering their history.

Mussolini devasted Italy. Have they forgotten the lessons of WWII? What the fuck are they thinking?

Then again, look at who our president is. I guess we don't have a lot of room to talk.

[ornotna]

5. It is depressing to see.

There are little bits of light in the dark though.

https://www.footballparadise.com/punk-rockers-of-football-a-story-of-pirate-flags-and-the-anti-nazi-st-pauli/

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6. Love the video at the link.

Playing Hell's Bells for the team walk on is brilliant!

[peacebuzzard]

7. When Pele at 17 walked into a World Cup for 1st time he was discriminated against.

I would have to research to pinpoint the European nation but at the time, European racism was rampant.
It was not a frothing murder scene, but it was ugly.

on edit: would not take my accent on Pele'