-- BBC News, Rome -- Fans fought running battles with police and a 38-year-old officer was killed. A total of 29 people were arrested, several of them under the age of 18.Apparently, in present day Italy... this sort of insanity is just regarded as part of the game.
To those who follow Italian football, the violence, while appalling, was not surprising. It is now endemic at Italian stadiums. There is a growing core of fans for whom the game is incidental - they come to the stadium to fight and many of them come armed.Funny... Italy's troops in Afghanistan probably have it easier than the police back home right now. In fact, Canadian casualties are currently running at seven times what the Italian contingent has suffered... and I don't think it's because Canadians are clumsier.
Investigators say they discovered the remains of crude bombs, weapons and drugs after Friday night's Catania game.
Maybe Italy should think about shipping some sports fans to Kabul.
They could kill two birds with one stone.
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UPDATE: Hot-blooded... or just crazy
Sunday's violence erupted after the shooting of Gabriele Sandri, 26, at a motorway service station.**********
Around 40 police were injured in the nationwide disorder.
The Lazio fan, from Rome, was hit by a bullet in the neck as he sat in a car while police tried to stop fighting between followers of his team and Juventus supporters.
LAST WORD: Sign of the times
Quaint Italian hill towns. Who would have thought they would have CCTV? Apparently not the prime suspects involved in the Meredith Kercher murder.
Technorati Tags: Eurotrash, soccer hooligans, mandatory enlistment
