Italian football officials and police were accused on Sunday of "capitulating to hooliganism over claims they had negotiated permission to play Italy's equivalent of the FA Cup final with a leader of some of the country's most notoriously violent fans," according to John Hooper of the London GUARDIAN. The start of Saturday's Coppa Italia final between Serie A sides Napoli and Fiorentina at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome was "delayed by 45 minutes following pre-match violence." As rumors "swept the stadium that the final would be called off because of the violence," Napoli captain Marek Hamsik "went to the edge of the pitch, accompanied by officials, and spoke to representatives" of his side's "ultras," the fans associated with "much of the organised violence that surrounds the game in Italy." The match went ahead after the "ultras on both sides agreed to watch in silence." The man "apparently in charge of the talks with Hamsik was Gennaro De Tommaso, known as 'Genny 'a carogna' or Genny the swine." Rome's police commissioner "denied there had been any negotiation" (GUARDIAN, 5/4). Italian national team coach Cesare Prandelli said of the pre-match violence, "The stadium must be a proactive place where there are no threats. The game must be the spectacle, nothing else. This episode does not represent our game. Now, our task is to raise our image to the world. We Italians are like this -- we need to touch the bottom, and then we can go up. We really can be the best" (FOOTBALL ITALIA, 5/5).
