“Better Pakistani than southerner”, the Verona fans are not racist: “The whole stadium must hear them”

Sugar Mizzy December 3, 2021

Hellas Verona fans (LaPresse)

«Much better Pakistani than teròn», «You are dirty southerners», «Maradona southerner». After having made the rounds of the web, the choirs sung by the Veronese fans at the partenopeo last November 7th they had earned Hellas, for objective responsibility, a fine of 10 thousand euros. Two weeks later, however, the National Sports Court accepted the appeal presented by the Scala club, represented by the operational director Pantaleo Longo and assisted by the lawyer Stefano Fanini, canceling the fine. The same script had already been staged, identical, for the transfer of the Gialloblù to Arechi in Salerno: same “anti-terroni” choirs during the match on 22 September, the same 10 thousand euro fine was imposed on the club by the same sports judge Gerardo Mastrandrea “for having his supporters chanting insulting chants of territorial matrix towards the supporters of the opposing team ». The same outcome also in the second instance, where on 13 October the National Sports Court accepted the appeal and canceled the penalty against Hellas. A double decision in favor of the Veronese that made more than someone grumble: “From now on at the stadium the fans will be able to freely” Pakistani much better than southerner “”, have argued mass and supporters from Campania, “According to the judges it is not racism but only mockery and jokes”, “here is a new and constructive page written in the fight against racism and territorial discrimination on the playing fields”.

What the papers of the sports judges say

Instrumentalizations aside, however, what is really behind that double sentence in favor of the Gialloblù? Is it possible that the judges have “legitimized” the insults against the “southerners”? Not at all: upstream of the cancellation of the two fines remitted in Campania by the Veronese this season, there is instead the new line of sports judges.

The reasons: “Those choirs did not negatively affect the events”

Just go and read the two reasons, practically identical, with which the Court of Appeal explains the reasons for the acceptance of the yellow-blue appeals. against the sanctions for choirs in Salerno and Naples: “According to the constant orientation of the jurisprudence on the subject, the expressions of insult and diversity must have a phenomenological profile, character and size that can be heard and therefore “perceived” in the preponderant and significant part of the stadium “. In other words, we read in both sentences, we must find “in the presence of cases that have had an effective negative impact on the performance of the sporting event, and have hadurba not only the recipients of the banner or show, but also the spectators who have paid for the ticket for other shows, directly or indirectly, struck by such festivals ».

“Insults not perceived by match officials”

Both in Salerno and in Naples, the Court “while firmly stigmatizing the behavior of the supporters of the Scala team, behavior not contested by the complainant, cannot acknowledge that such conduct in the present case is not worthy of a punitive sanction “. In fact, “none of the match officials have any indication of this in their reports” and furthermore “there is a lack of proof of the effective impact of such choirs, of a negative sign, on the performance of the sporting event, since the requirement of the” perceptibility and dimension of the phenomenon “has not been demonstrated”. In short, both matches took place regularly, those choirs (by a few present at the stadium) who still remain in bad taste. In these hours, meanwhile, the company is evaluating whether to appeal against the third seasonal fine “for insulting choirs of local brand”: at stake, this time, another 10 thousand euros for having made the usual anti-southern “compliments” to the Cagliari fans during the match that ended goalless at Bentegodi.