A joke out of place, which generated a multitude of controversies. The mayor of Florence, Dario Nardella, spoke again of one of the most bitter defeats of his mandate: the restructuring of the Artemio Franchi stadium (paid, in the intentions of the left, with Pnrr money). A stop that the European Union has given to Italy and that the mayor of the Tuscan capital has not yet digested. “What happened to us five months ago, is happening now to all the administrations in Italy – said the exponent of the Democratic Party, speaking at the Unification Festival in Scandicci, during a debate with the governor of Emilia Romagna, Stefano Bonaccini – For a reason unclear from the European Commission, the money for the Franchi stadium was taken from us. Why? We were told that there is a state secret. I thought maybe they were all Juventus fans in Brussels.”
A statement that Juventus fans did not like at all. Tuttosport, the sports newspaper published in Turin, certainly didn’t tell them. “An unfortunate exit, because in addition to the Florentine mayor’s obvious obsession with Juventus, associating the terms ‘Juventus’ and ‘Brussels’ is not the best. The reference to the capital of Belgium is obviously linked to the seat of the European Parliament, but Heysel’s drama is still a living memory, unfortunately also due to violent slogans and appeals from many fans, including purple, which with goliardy has very little to do do with it”.
A topic that, from sports, quickly became a political topic. “Boutade por boutade, I fear that the ‘Snipers’ hide more in Palazzo Vecchio – underlined Susanna Ceccardi, MEP of the League – where someone said no to a private individual that he was ready to invest, than in Brussels, where projects are seriously analyzed and where the European Commission clearly knows how Pnrr resources, which are loans to be repaid with public money, should be used to improve the rail network, build schools and hospitals, promote digitization”. The leader of the group at Palazzo Vecchio del Carroccio, Federico Bussolin, also follows the same line: “I want to take it for granted that the mayor’s statement was intended to be goliardic, even if it wasn’t. The real point though, beyond Juventus and its fans, is the history of the stadium. What are the intentions of the majority after the rejection of the European Union?
Source: IL Tempo
Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.
