Hundreds of ultras involved, traffic on the A1 blocked to the north for 50 minutes, the service area of Badia al Pino, near Arezzo, the scene of a guerrilla still at the center of clashes between fans like on November 11, 2007 when he died Lazio supporter Gabriele Sandri, killed by agent Luigi Spaccarotella.
This is the scenario of the battle that took place along the Autostrada del Sole, with ultras from Naples and Rome away to the north, the former in Genoa, the latter in Milan. An encounter that does not seem to have been accidental at all: there is the hypothesis that the two supporters had met, due to ancient contrasts and rusts.
A sort of showdown for hatred that dates back to the tragic death of Neapolitan supporter Ciro Esposito, in 2014 in Tor di Quinto, at the hands of a Romanist ultra. Supporters who have always tried, at least in the extreme fringes, to keep at a distance. And today, in fact, for fear of violent episodes, the Badia a Pino motorway service station was manned and the public order service had been strengthened. But the reckoning took place all the same, probably premeditated and organized.
The clashes began after 13:30. In the note released by the police station it is explained that there were around 350 Napoli fans who stopped at the motorway service station reached by several vehicles. Then the Roma fans passed by, “most likely warned of the presence of the Neapolitans – specifies the Police Headquarters in the reconstruction – they slowed down until they stopped at the height of the rest area while a part of the Napoli fans began a dense launch of objects towards the cars on the roadway”. Moments taken from some videos on the net: groups of fans, dressed in black and misrepresented, wander around the service area armed with sticks and throw firecrackers and stones at cars. “Both groups in a short time moved up to the autogrill exit and came into contact for a few minutes”, the police station reconstructs again.
The police therefore decide to block the A1, to avert other risks deriving from the passage of other Romanists and also to protect the safety of motorists. The stretch of motorway is blocked for 50 minutes and the police personnel who were in the nearby Arno service area are also brought to Badia al Pino. In the service station there are also moments of fear even if, fortunately, the toll is that of only one injured fan, a Roma supporter hit by a bladed weapon. “When I arrived, the worst was over but there were broken vases and objects on the floor that testified to what happened. We then proceeded to clean up with our colleagues. However, there was a lot of fear”, says an employee of the motorway service station. The police then managed to drive away the two groups of fans: the Romanist fans, the Police Headquarters reconstructs again, “after about 15 minutes they left, while the Neapolitan ones remained in the service area and were subsequently escorted to Genoa by police force personnel” . Activities are now underway to identify the violent people also thanks to the images of the cameras: about eighty Neapolitan supporters were immediately identified in Genoa, where they had subsequently gone to watch the match, and arrests in deferred flagrance are not excluded. “The police – comments the prosecutor of Arezzo Roberto Rossi – are actively working to get to identify as soon as possible those responsible for an act that has endangered traffic safety and caused enormous discomfort in a fundamental artery for our road system” .
In other videos posted on the net, groups of fans are seen, always misrepresented and dressed in black, stationed on the edge of the service area and throwing sticks and tear gas from one side of the motorway to the other and at cars passing by on the A1 . In the images, groups of ultras armed with sticks can be seen wandering around the petrol stations and among the motorists of the motorway service station
Harsh statement by sports minister Abodi. “There is an abysmal difference between fans who go to the stadium, at home or away, to sing, hug each other, rejoice or suffer for their team and the criminals who clash in a motorway service station, creating problems for decent people “. The minister of sport and youth, Andrea Abodi, intervenes harshly – with a statement to Ansa – on the clashes that took place on the A1. “There is nothing worse than defining the latter as fans, there is no greater mistake than making a bundle of all the grass. In 2023, those who make mistakes pay and I hope it will also happen for the hooligans who clashed today on the A1″.
The Minister of Infrastructure is also asking for a tough fist Matthew Salvini. “Highway closed and Italian travelers stranded? Let them pay all the damages out of their own pockets, and never go to the stadium again”, says the minister.
Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, it is learned, was in constant contact with the Chief of Police, Lamberto Giannini, during the clashes. He applauded the prefect for the prompt intervention of the police force which avoided even more serious consequences. The minister will ask the Observatory on sporting events to evaluate the next scheduled events with the utmost severity. As prefect of Rome, Piantedosi adopted several times prescriptive measures to prohibit the transfers of fans deemed at risk.
#Clashes in A1, fans in black sweatshirts and hoods, armed with sticks, launch rockets from one side of the motorway to the other at the Badia al Pino service area (Arezzo) @TgrRai pic.twitter.com/EsGCOZ0AQk
— Tgr Rai Toscana (@TgrRaiToscana) January 8, 2023
From some videos on the net you can see the moment in which the two Roma and Napoli fans come into contact right in the autogrill, near the petrol stations. Fans move in groups, wearing black hoodies and jackets, many are disguised with hoods and scarves. Screams and the sound of stones being thrown and tear gas canisters are heard. In another video posted online by a motorist, groups of fans are seen, always with their faces covered and dressed in black, running in groups along the roadway of the motorway between Monte San Savino and Arezzo. We can also distinguish the fumes and the glow of the tear gas thrown by the ultras.
In other videos posted on the net, groups of fans are seen, always misrepresented and dressed in black, stationed on the edge of the service area and throwing sticks and tear gas from one side of the motorway to the other and at cars passing by on the A1 . In the images, groups of ultras armed with sticks can be seen wandering around the petrol stations and among the motorists of the motorway service station.
“When I arrived the worst was over but there were broken vases and objects on the floor which testified to what had happened. We then proceeded to clean up with our colleagues. However, there was a lot of fear”, says one of the restaurant workers at the service area of Badia al Pino east.
Source: Ansa
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