By Andrew Warshaw
November 11 – Even by Italian standards, it was surely one of the most bizarre episodes ever to occur in a professional football match. A third division derby was called off on Sunday after visiting side Nocerina, having allegedly received death threats from their own fans, deliberately reduced themselves to six players forcing the game to be abandoned.
The southern derby at Salernitana had already begun 40 minutes late as officials tried to persuade Nocerina to kick off. They eventually did so but made their three permitted substitutions within the first two minutes. Over the next 17, five players went off injured, leaving the team with only six men, below the minimum permitted.
The incident was the latest blow to hit Italian football, still reeling from on ongoing match-fixing scandals.
“This has caused enormous damage, it’s an extremely grave matter,” Lega Pro director general Francesco Ghirelli told RAI television. “We have to reflect on how to prevent these indecent spectacles. It’s a disgrace.
“We will wait for the sporting tribunal to judge this episode which has done huge damage to the Lega Pro.” Nocerina fans had been banned from the match to avoid potential crowd trouble. Italian media said that as a result, angry supporters had demanded the team refuse to play and reportedly made death threats if the request was refused.
A video on the website of local newspaper Citta di Salerno showed dozens of fans, many of them hooded, outside the team hotel. They surrounded the team bus, gesticulating angrily as it drove away. On hearing that the match had been abandoned, the fans were reported to have celebrated in a public square.
After the game, the entire Nocerina board of directors resigned. “I’m just here to announce that all the directors of Nocerina have resigned and that the players will not be speaking to the media,” sporting director Luigi Pavarese told reporters.
Asked about the injuries, he replied somewhat laughably: “The lads went onto the pitch without warming up, which caused the injuries.”
“The key point of this story was terror, fear of the consequences and the threats in this demeaning episode,” said Italian Football Federation president Giancarlo Abete.
And Salernitana coach Carlo Perrone added: “This is a terrible page in the history of football. We need to ask ourselves how this could’ve happened. I am a man of sport and right now feel terribly disappointed.”