Violence, insults, racism. According to the leaders, there is an embarrassment of choice of episodes. Some opposing fans have started shouting “monkeys” and “eat b…” at our boys. But on via Gottardo, they do not give up.
“Your children are not your children… They are the sons and daughters of Life’s own longing.” These words belong to Khalil Gibran. He is the Lebanese poet of *The Prophet*, the short composition printed on hundreds of leaflets on the occasion of the last sports weekend.
The surprise is the first step of an initiative born in the past weeks, at the same time as the celebrations of the Day of Remembrance, on January 27th. “We distributed the verses of If This Is a Man by Primo Levi. The idea came after yet another video of a brawl breaking out in the stands. To do this, we chose to rely on poetry because I think it is a special way to try to predispose the souls of those who attend the matches.”
However, they live this with a spirit often against the current. Twenty years ago, for example, he founded the Survivors, the team of “survivors” made up of homeless people and newly landed migrants. In 2007, after the death of the carabiniere Filippo Raciti during the Catania-Palermo derby, he convinced the coordination of the Toro fans to demonstrate that not only hatred flows between the supporters. “On the occasion of the matches with Cagliari and Roma, we shared the table at the restaurant and the sector at the stadium with the opponents: without problems,” recalls Arena.
When he arrived at Rebaudengo, he organized aperitifs between the parents of the teams that had competed on the field. “But I realized that I couldn’t overcome the diffidence and, above all, the stereotype that we have always experienced at ‘Reba’. Poetry is a lever to erase the stigma. For this reason, being in Italian, they are not punishment for the home fans, almost all foreigners.
But for the guests. Like Erica Chiesa: “It’s a beautiful idea. It struck me to read these beautiful words, where often one hears the ugly ones.” She is one of the moms sitting in the stands of the Sempione stadium.
Watching her friend’s dog, she admits, “His name is Toto, maybe he’s the only one who has never shouted an insult on a field.” This is not poetry. But it’s pretty close. It arrives every day directly in your inbox at 7 in the morning.