Politics and Passion

The Inter - Juventus derby did little to disappoint…and now we have the obligatory post-match fallout. Luis Figo is accusing Luciano Moggi of paying a special visit to the referee’s (Paparesta) locker room before the match. Moggi has responded by taking the issue to court. And in the middle of it all, Roberto Mancini has earned a touchline ban for verbally assaulting Paparesta. Oh, and let’s not forget the bust-up in the tunnel.

For those of you who feared that passion was leaking from the Italian game, fear no more. Even when the table is at its most lopsided, perhaps precisely when it IS lopsided, there is enough scandal and anger to fill the Milano Stazione Centrale twice over. Despite dreary attendances and a lack of any game-changing icons on the player landscape, the game occupies the heart and minds of everyone from the alps to the Amalfi coast.

A million pop psychologists would gladly tell us why this is so, and its probably a ‘quilt’ of things– entertainment, regional pride, family tradition, etc. And for a great many, its still the love of the game and only the game. I suspect heavily though, in a country where ‘conspiracy’ seems rampant and class politics are played out in public spectacles, that calcio mostly serves that human need to be part of a larger group. Who wouldn’t want to watch the grand theatre all play out? And to be swept up in it? To live and die as part of an important ‘club’ that will always be there, what could be better for a citizenry faced with predictable fiscal growth and unmoveable social classes? Eh, maybe I’m overthinking it. Maybe its just the beauty of a well-struck free kick by a legend in his last days after all…