Discussion in Italy about stopping matches for fan abuse after Mourinho gesture against Juve

15 nov 2018

When Juventus hosted, and were defeated by, Manchester United at the Allianz Stadium in the Champions League the other week, Jose Mourinho caught the media attention for all the wrong reasons; when he entered the pitch at the full-time whistle and gestured towards the fans in an “I can’t hear you” motion. Mourinho was abused by Juventus fans for the entire 90 minutes and was simply taking revenge on the Bianconeri fans for their disrespectful behaviour.

Speaking on the topic, Napoli head coach Carlo Ancelotti said the following:

“In Italy, at a cultural level we are back, we still think that a match is a battle and not an event.

In England it is practically impossible to be insulted, the fans sing only for their team. In Spain there is not the rudeness that we have in Italy.

Rudeness must no longer enter. Now we have a weapon, we can suspend the game. It is made for rain and can also be done in case of insults. It can be done and I think we will do it.”

Ancelotti is suggesting that as games can be suspended and postponed for rain, it should too for fan abuse.

New FIGC president Gravina responded to Ancelotti: “We could run the risk of becoming a prisoner of a small group of rude people, the risk is that one or very few people determine the ability to suspend the race, it's a big risk we can not run.”

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