PADUA – Scenes from urban guerrilla warfare yesterday, Tuesday 19 March, at the Euganeo stadium during the first leg of the Padua-Catania Serie C Italian Cup final. The toll is 5 arrests of which 3 in flagrante delicto and 8 policemen bruised. This is what emerged this morning, Wednesday 20 March, from the meeting between the commissioner Marco Odorisio and the mayor Sergio Giordani.
The facts
Following the invasion of the pitch by some supporters from Catania during the interval of the first leg of the Lega Pro Italian Cup final between Calcio Padova and Catania, the officers had to intervene inside the Euganeo Stadium, bringing back a sixty people from Catania in the Curva Nord sector reserved for them with a total presence of 1,900 Etna fans.
In particular, the officers, after avoiding contact between the two fans, blocked 3 supporters from Catania who were arrested for the crime of aggravated resistance: respectively, two 40-year-olds and a 41-year-old burdened in various capacities by a mafia association, robbery, narcotics, stadium crimes, crimes against persons and property and already recipients of daspo measures.
Among these, the person who allowed the invasion of the pitch was identified because, after having climbed over the gate of the North Curve near the East Stand sector, regardless of the presence of the stewards, he raised the handle favoring the invasion of around sixty of Etna supporters.
A fourth fan from Catania was arrested this morning while he was boarding a flight to Edinburgh departing from Milan Linate Airport. Neither during the phases preceding the match nor at the end of the match during the outflow phases, did any contact occur between the two sets of fans.
At the Padua railway station, on the occasion of the departure of the Ultras from Catania, pre-filtering was carried out with seizures of non-regulatory poles and numerous smoke bombs and firecrackers, material removed from the availability of the Etna supporters, also in order to guarantee the greatest possible safety on board the railway convoy left Padua at 11pm and headed to Catania. On this occasion, 23 Catania fans without travel documents were also made to purchase tickets. A fifth Catania fan, involved in yesterday’s events, was recently arrested in Catania.
This afternoon, March 20, three more Catania fans were arrested: a 34-year-old traced in Catania and a 40-year-old stopped by the Digos of Venice, both with police records for specific stadium crimes. And again a 42 year old, stuck in Catania, with specific precedents.
The investigations
The investigations and investigations by the Digos of Padua and Catania continue for the contextualization of the individual conducts for the purposes of adopting the Daspo provisions.
During the intervention which allowed us to block the invasion of the pitch and restore the objective conditions for the second half of the football match, 4 operators from the Digos of Padua suffered bruises, as well as 4 agents from the 2nd Mobile Department.
MAYOR
«Yesterday’s scenes at the Euganeo Stadium are unacceptable – stated the mayor Sergio Giordani – violence must always be condemned with the utmost severity and is not at all befitting of moments of sport which must bring with them values of sharing and friendship. Maximum solidarity with the injured law enforcement officers and thanks for the excellent work done which avoided worse consequences. Now under the direction of the Police Commissioner, we will all work to avoid similar situations in the future.”
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