An investigation into the activities of neo-Nazi organizations in Italy led to an unexpected discovery.
Employees of the antiterrorist police department of Turin, together with the law enforcement agencies of Milan, Varese, Pavia, Novara and Forli, discovered a munitions depot owned, allegedly, by one of the fan groups of Juventus in Turin. During the operation, automatic rifles, pistols, armor-piercing cartridges and even a three-meter air-to-air missile were found. The latter was produced in France in 1980. It does not have a warhead, but it can be charged and used for its intended purpose. Together with the weapon was seized fascist symbols.
The ammunition was found in the apartment of one of the participants in the fan movement, and the rocket was in an aircraft hangar in the city of Pavia, located in the Lombardy region.
“A connection was found between neo-fascist and neo-Nazi organizations and the Drughi fan association, as well as other associations of Juventus fans,” quotes one of the head of law enforcement in Turin, Carlo Ambergris, Football Italia portal.
An earlier investigation led to the discovery, the purpose of which was to establish a link between the fan association of the current champion of Serie A and the activities of ultra-right extremists in Italy. The attributes of Juventus and Drughi were discovered in the office of a local neo-Nazi organization.
Large-scale raid was carried out not only in Turin, but also in other major cities in the north of Italy. As a result, three people were detained, but their direct connection with Juventus was not specified. Two of them have Italian citizenship, one - Swiss. According to media reports, one of the suspects is 50-year-old Fabio Del Bergiolo, a former border guard officer who specialized in combating fraud. 18 years ago, he ran for the Italian Senate.
Law enforcement agencies suggest that the ammunition could be intended for resale. They came to this conclusion after listening to the telephone conversations of the suspects.
“Del Bergiolo was a mediator. The most important thing is that we managed to prevent the sale of these weapons, ”the Guardian quotes Ambergne.
Right-wing fan movements are a real headache not only for local law enforcement agencies, but also for clubs. One of the blatant cases related to their activities occurred at the end of April in Milan on the eve of the semi-final meeting of the country's cup between the local Milan and the Roman Lazio. Fans of the capital team stretched a banner with the name Benito Mussolini near the square where the dictator was executed. It is noteworthy that the action took place one day before the celebration of the Day of the liberation of Italy from fascism.
However, nationalist views are not only outside the field. Football players often suffer from racist tricks of the fans, and not only Juventus, and we are not always talking about legionnaires. Thus, during the match of the 30th round of Serie A, in which Cagliari hosted Juventus, the fans of the team from Sardinia booed the black striker Moise Keane, who was born in Vercelli. Having scored the winning goal in the 85th minute of the meeting, he ran to celebrate a goal to the stands of local fans, which provoked an even greater number of insults in his address.
At the same time, opinions on the incident were divided. Leonardo Bonucci, the defender of the “old signora”, blamed both sides for what happened, since, in his opinion, the attacker should not have provoked the initially aggressive fans of Cagliari. At the same time, most of the leading players sided with Keen, and his agent Mino Rayol called on clubs and the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) to begin an active fight against racism.