August 28 – In a remarkable display of respect, Genoa fans watched the first 43 minutes of their home match with Empoli in silence at the weekend in honour of the 43 victims of the motorway bridge collapse in the Italian city earlier this month.
In the first match at the city’s Luigi Ferraris stadium since the disaster, there was an impeccably observed minute’s silence before kickoff followed by applause for relatives of the victims who were invited on to the pitch.
As requested by Genoa fans, the silence continued after kickoff in what was an eerie atmosphere that felt like the game was being played behind closed doors – even when Genoa scored twice in the first 20 minutes.
In a statement beforehand, the fans had asked for “a deafening silence of 43 minutes, one for each child, worker, student, father or mother who are no longer with us today.”
Genoa, whose opening game of the season had been called off last Sunday as had that of their city rivals Sampdoria, went on to win 2-1 against Empoli.
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