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Parma fan crushed to death by Juventus Coach
Posted - 30th March 2008
Italian football was plunged into crisis yet again yesterday, following violent incidents between rival Juventus and Parma fans at a service station outside Asti. In circumstances that remain unclear, following clashes, a Parma fan, Matteo Bagnaresi, was crushed to death by a coach carrying Juventus fans.
The Juventus Parma match, scheduled for this afternoon in Turin, was immediately postponed by sporting authorities in consultation with the police. Late last year controversy reigned when news broke out that a Lazio fan had been shot dead at a service station, by a policeman it later turned out. The sporting authorities were heavily criticised by many for not cancelling all matches that day, due to the gravity of the situation.
All games yesterday started with a minute's silence as a mark of respect for Bagnaresi. Early reports suggest that his death was a tragic accident. According to witnesses quoted by the Italian press, the accident occured after rival groups of fans had, by chance, stopped at the same service station on the motorway to Turin. A group of Juventus fans, threatened by a larger group of Parma fans, decided to make a hasty exit. As their bus manouevered out of the station Bagnaresi unepexctedly cut across the path of the bus and was crushed beneath it. The Juventus bus sped off, but stopped 700metres down the road after fans on the bus made the driver aware of what had happened.
Last year Serie A was called to a halt, temporarily, after rioting at the Catania Palermo Derby left a policeman dead. Stringent security measures were introduced in the wake of the rioting, and a number of teams were forced to play in closed stadiums until the grounds were fitted with new security fencing etc. This season has been far from trouble free. Aside from the shooting of Lazio fan Gabriele Sandri, clubs like Napoli, and Milan have had their fans banned from specific away games for public safety concerns.
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