A banner and choruses of insults, heavy phrases, a bottle thrown from the stands that grazed a little girl, the third half that shows desertion by some managers, even racist phrases. Everything happened, and a little good, before, during and after the match in the first category of regional football, group E, between Castelsardo (home team) and Valledoria, played last Saturday.
The controversies now pass from the field to the official press releases of the club. The exchanges of accusations are heavy: "That match shouldn't have been played," they claim from the company led by Franco Salvatore Mugoni. According to what transpires, the carabinieri are also dealing with the story, and with the unedifying side dish.
THE VALLEDORIA. Three days after the match, the confrontation was rekindled by a note from Valledoria: the tension would have started to rise «from the days preceding the match, starting with the uproar during our finishing session on Friday, to then lead to some banners in bad taste addressed to the inhabitants of Valledoria». On the day of the match, a large banner welcomes the guests: "We want 11 lions against these co...ons".
«In this climate which is certainly not relaxed», continues the press release, «we nevertheless took the field to play our game (also in this case it is necessary to point out various offensive and racist chants addressed to some of our players) despite probably there were all the conditions for the race not to take place".
At the final whistle, when the pitch decreed a 2-2 draw, «in the so-called “third half” some of our fans and managers were continually offended by a group of Castellanesi supporters, all with the presence of women and children». From Valledoria they don't want to make «a bundle of grass. We were only disappointed by the Castelsardo club's lack of intervention towards a group, which certainly doesn't make a good impression either on the team or on the country itself».
THE CASTELSARDO. A note, that of the neighboring opponents, which embitters the president of Castelsardo, Pier Filippo Denicu. Waiting to reply in the same way, he explains: «Many falsehoods are written in that press release», he says, «before and after the game we went to the bar with some managers, we even drank together during the third half. Only a few of them», he underlines, «perhaps because they were reached by a phone call from the upper floors of the town, have left. But no one followed them."
And the racist insults directed at some players? “I asked, nobody heard them. Not even among their players. But the banner was there: «I only noticed it at the end of the first half, it was towards the pitch». For the rest «there have always been teasing from the stands, that is a very heartfelt derby. They too, at home, cheered on us, and we smiled, because this is football». In addition, "it was one of them who threw a bottle, which grazed a little girl". What displeases Denicu «is that that note comes from people who have always played football and know the environment. I was very saddened."
THE TENSION. The clash resumes force after these statements. And an investigative activity by the Castelsardo carabinieri also emerges: «The evening before the match», adds the president of Valledoria, Mugoni, «another banner had appeared in the square of Castelsardo. There was written "Doriano carabiniere", which for the ultras is an insult. And the carabinieri, the real ones», he underlines, «have acquired the videos of all the commercial activities in the area, to trace those responsible».
Everything could end with a handshake. But first it will be necessary to wait for the press release from the sports judge, expected for Thursday: «So», concludes Mugoni, «perhaps it will also be discovered that that shameful banner that appeared inside the field had been signaled before the start of the match».
Henry Fresu
