Comments on: Bring in compulsory history lessons for Italian footballers

By: Ahmed Bilal

Ahmed Bilal — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:32:51 +0000

Neil (and a few others) – thank for telling us what we should and shouldn’t be.

I don’t agree with Rob’s slant here BUT he’s got a point – footballers need to be more responsible and aware of what they say and do.

having said that – here’s one for Rob – what’s wrong with fascism?

By: Maik

Maik — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:54:07 +0000

Actually this is about an individual footballer’s personal opinion, since this article is all about Abbiati, and what’s happening on Italy has nothing to do with it. I’m not saying that everything’s fine down there, but the thing is that this article talks about one person and his beliefs. If it were the other way around we would be writing completely different comments. But then again, this is a football website, not politics, sociology nor anything of the sort.

By: dylan

dylan — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:08:58 +0000

I can’t believe most of the comments on here. This is not just a matter of opinion. The far right is gaining ground in Italy, with openly racist parties like the Lega Nord serving in the government. When Gianni Alemanno became mayor of Rome, there were youths giving the fascist salute and yelling “Viva il Duce!” Racist attacks on immigrants are rising, and a Roma encampment was even burned to the ground.

At a time of economic downturn where the left is not too strong, the threat of organized fascists is actually pretty serious. If you were on the receiving end of Italy’s far right, you might not be so casual about their return to power.

A big part of this process is trying to make fascism respectable again, and politicians like Alemanno do this a lot. They talk about the “complexity” and “ambiguity” of fascism, or the “good intentions” of the people involved. This is a way of breaking down the taboo that fascism (rightly) gained during the 20th century.

So this isn’t about an individual footballer’s personal opinions, or his low education level or anything like that. Abbiati was expressing a large, frightening trend in recent Italian politics, and we should look at that context if we want to understand what he said. I’m glad Rob Parker wrote about this; I just wish some of the commentators here took the far right a bit more seriously.

By: Neil

Neil — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 09:34:12 +0000

why dont you mind your own business,disregard his personal life and concentrate on his play on the pitch….rob parker is an idiot.political views and religion should be off limits.

By: Maik

Maik — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:40:00 +0000

Sorry, I had to add, that IMO, we are forgetting the anthropological side of this all. People almost all the time think that the solution was on the revolution that never was, the idea that no one heard, or the king that lost his throne (fascism/communism), that’s the way it has been for a loooong while.

By: Maik

Maik — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 01:33:08 +0000

Nope, Stalin. Well, Lenin too, but also the all-seeing father.

By: GT

GT — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:53:09 +0000

Koewart, you are an idiot. Berlusconi has nothing to do with fascism. And Rob, you shouldn’t be judging people. First of all, you know nothing about Italy so stop insulting it. This is one of the worst articles I’ve ever read. It should be deleted.

By: Rossonero Fuego

Rossonero Fuego — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:45:15 +0000

it all depends considering how individually they lived u must get into the countrys view and ideals im a american a open minded american that speaks spanish and portugues and has limited knowledge of italian alotta russians enjoyed communism OMG HOW COULD THAT BE SO?! well it is it all depends on the individual past history oh and the attacking football how may champs league trophys has gone to italia and the forza azzuri nat team won the world cup dont tell us how what stlye to use

By: iqnadirshah

iqnadirshah — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:57:21 +0000

Andrei I have no clue what you are trying to say (blame my ignorance/brainwashing for that). Personally I think I’m a pacifist and these notions of one country being greater than the others is outdated. That is why I prefer war to be limited to the Football field. Which leftist are you? That term has different meanings in different ares (Eg. Israel)…………..

By: Andrei

Andrei — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 23:04:47 +0000

Maik, that would be Lenin… Lenin, not Stalin.

iqnadirshah, such nonesense, it is their right to believe in something. Does anybody criticize you for having been brainwashed into believing that a free market really is the best thing for us politically?

I am personally a leftist… Vive le Quebec Libre!!