2 days ago
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As AC Milan faced Bari in the Coppa Italia this weekend, San Siro had a very clear void. A lack of sound from the Curva, and it could become the norm.
Last season, it was a regular occurrence that the Curva protested against things on and off the pitch. When Milan were struggling and the management were not aiding, the group arrived late, chanted against them, and even showed up at Casa Milan on the final day of the season.
Throughout, there were statements against the management, which were often scathing, and also chants against key figures within the group. Though there were also issues with the Curva itself, with both Inter and Milan ultras being questioned criminally.
APA’s statement
As a result of this, measures have been taken against several members of the Rossoneri group, and there has already been a statement about the implications of this from Curva Sud. The effects were clear to see (and hear) on Sunday night.
Over a season, it may change, but if it doesn’t, it is a very dangerous precedent to set, and MilanNews have relayed the words of APA Milan.
“The recent legal and disciplinary events involving AC Milan’s management and the Curva Sud Ultras provide further cause for reflection for the Club’s Small Shareholders and all Rossoneri supporters. This is even more true after the season opener at San Siro and the “lunar” atmosphere that characterised the 65,000 (fans?) who—in addition to 5,000 from Bari—thronged the stadium.
“As is well known, following the two first-instance convictions handed down to the Curva Sud leaders, the club now refuses to recognise the Ultras as having any role whatsoever in organising the fans, starting with preventing them from managing season tickets in their traditional section of the stadium and prohibiting the display of their historic banners.
“Many of its other representatives have also been personally restricted from accessing San Siro due to the protests which they allegedly launched against the club’s management at the end of last season.”
“The most striking feature of this story is the profound hypocrisy that has permeated it for a long time, at the hands of all parties involved.
“For years, the thousands of Ultras in the Curva have chosen—or allowed themselves to be influenced by—leaders with criminal records, long involved in illicit activities unrelated to their passion for sport, and who have used their ‘troop’s’ willingness to engage in violence as a tool of intimidation.
“When this emerged in such a way as to provoke judicial intervention—and the resulting convictions, albeit not final—the choice was not to distance themselves, dissociate themselves, and renew their own representation and leadership, but to deny the evidence and the findings of the investigation, express unreserved solidarity, and demand the acquittal and release of the accused, victims of judicial persecution.
“Accused of being a “militia,” the Ultras—either complicit or ill-advised—showed up outside the courtroom to await sentencing, dressed in a sort of black bloc uniform and in military regalia. Clearly, they thus facilitated the task of those within the club who were eager to settle scores after last season’s demonstrations of dissent. Because it was a settling of scores.
“AC Milan always knew perfectly well who, how, and for what purposes—not just sporting—the Ultras were directed. And it always looked the other way. Nor did it prevent them, for example, from using the AIMC to facilitate the “second market” for season tickets and tickets.
“Only when the Public Prosecutor’s Office requested a halt to concessions that were being used to finance an organisation led by a group of convicted criminals, once again under investigation for very serious crimes (as demonstrated by the severity of the sentences handed down by the Court), did AC Milan pull the plug.
“But for years, the Italian Milan Club Association—also governed in a completely non-transparent manner—has been making deals with it. And for years, the club’s Supporter Liaison Officer has evidently been asleep or watching another movie (as demonstrated by the fact that the defence of the accused Ultras has repeatedly called him to testify in their defence).
“In this context—as it had already done by failing to approve the shares of the approximately 250 APA members who hold AC Milan shares—the club’s management has decided to take advantage of the situation to inflict an indiscriminate blow on all ultras and further pursue its perverse agenda.
“Fans become customers, buyers of shirts in the colours of Portugal and bearing the crests of Lanerossi Vicenza or Ascoli, collectors of bad taste and devoid of any true sense of belonging.
“Passionate AC Milan fans are replaced in the stands by tourists on all-inclusive packages that include the “San Siro experience,” and they certainly wouldn’t dream of inviting Cardinale, Scaroni, and Furlani to do something else.
“Spectators devoid of any analytical ability, always satisfied with a modest performance put on by a team that claims to only aspire to fourth place, and whose players all have a price tag at which they can be sold, in the name of economic sustainability that trumps any sporting ambition.
“A pathetic network of courtiers who, in the press and on social media, continue to lend credence to this ownership, unaware that a scientific program of ethnic and genetic substitution of AC Milan passion is underway.
“Forget about “Furlani is a Milan fan” and “we’re on the right track”! We can only hope that, with certain decisions that buck the recent past (a coach with clear ideas and a “ready” attitude; a true sporting director), we can attempt to rebuild a Milan worthy of the name; and that the recent transfers allow us to have a season in which we can reconcile ourselves with our game and results.
“But let’s be clear: none of this matters in the slightest to our ownership, whose priorities are entirely different.
“A serious club would sit down at the table with what remains (probably the best part) of the Curva. They would explain what is no longer open to compromise. They would recognise the irreplaceable role of the Ultras in cheering at the stadium.
“The Curva, for its part, should ensure that what happened will not be repeated, starting with their attitude toward the use of violence and their disinterest in any activity other than their unsurpassed display of sporting passion. And a serious agreement would be reached, respecting the law and the best AC Milan culture.
“But this is only possible if the parties seriously demonstrate—beyond slogans and empty statements of principle—that their primary interest is the good of AC Milan, and not their own personal gain.
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