Getting it Wrong… Again

After Inter and Napoli fans clashed so horribly a few weeks back and Inter fans were found to have racially abused a player yet again, there was only one thing to be done: punish other clubs. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, long-time Milan fan, vowed to meet with clubs and make changes, because no one should die because of football. Or something like that. So his solution was to move Milan’s away game to Genoa back to 3pm. On a Monday. Because… well, I’m still trying to work that out. All I know is that Italy are getting it wrong…again.

Some Milan fan...

Salvini claimed that there is some bad blood in the past between our two teams, that’s why they moved the match back to a time when everyone will be at work. But to find anything remotely like what happened in the Inter-Napoli game, you’d have to go back to 1995. That was the year that a Milan fan stabbed a Genoa fan to death outside the stadium. Which was horrible, of course. But it was also 24 years ago. The two teams have met twice a year or more since then every year, with minimal issues. That’s like 50 times. There is no reason for this ridiculous time change.

Despite claiming to want to improve Serie A and Italian football, it just feels like no one can get anything right. Italy missed the World Cup last year, but Italians couldn’t even elect an FIGC president or president of Serie A, let alone choose a new coach. Then when they did, they turned out to be every bit as poor or more so than the previous ones.

I don't understand the problem

This past week, we played a Supercoppa in a country with pervasive human rights issues and even more massive gender discrimination problems, specifically the fact that women could only sit in the third tier of the stadium for the game. They could have played the game anywhere, but the league chose Saudi Arabia. And then stuck with it. They just do so many short-sighted things that have lasting repercussions for the league and especially for fans. TV rights, game times, focusing on captains’ armbands instead of doing something to change racism. Just unbelievably poor decisions from top to bottom.

And now, Salvini has stepped into the game. We all know he’s been very critical of Gattuso. So was this decision to punish him? Because if so, it punishes the whole team, the players, the fans… yes, even a fan like him. It impacts television and streaming sites, sponsors, and it impacts people who already had tickets to the game. And why? What is the point? What will playing the game six hours earlier do for good? Nothing. Yet it is another black mark against Italian football and Serie A. Another chance to lose fans and lose footing in the race for the top five European leagues. It just feels like Italy are getting it wrong… again.

This post inspired by the music of She Wants Revenge

Serie A Week 20

Genoa vs. Milan

Monday, January 21 • 15:00 CET (9am EST)