At this point anyway, until safety concerns at various stadiums throughout the country are addressed and met, as Giuliano Amato, the interior minister of Italy, addressed the issue after the horrible scenes of violence in Catania last Friday. He is quoted as saying "We will not allow fans to go into a stadium that does not respect the current safety norms. In stadia like that of Catania I will not admit anyone, I am firm on this. That game shouldn't have been played.".
As I was working Friday, I hadn't noticed what the Serie A game on Fox Soccer was, and it was late in the day here when I found out that it was indeed Catania v. Palermo, which meant that the match was due for a replay sometime Saturday (it also was repeated in the Sunday morning slot previously given to another Serie A match that had to be postponed because of the rioting). Watching the match, it was a contested affair in the first half, but the first goal of the game, by Palermo, just before the 50th minute turned out to have been a bit offside, though that was not as blatant as the handball not called on the winning goal very late in the match that had just about everybody but the Palermo team scratching their heads.
The smoke from the flares really started after the first goal, as did the cannons, from one end of the stadium, and smoke began to fill the end (the left side on the television). Fox Soccer commentator Christian Miles then said, at about the 56th minute "I feel like I'm watching a reenactment of the Civil War" Just a couple of minutes later, that end really filled up with smoke, and by then the referee and Palermo coach had seen enough, and the match was temporarily suspended for about thirty minutes. Not sure what they did on the original broadcast, but the replays were edited fairly well to ensure continuity of play.
STORY
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