Useless protagonism? Do you want to give a clear and hard signal in view of the inauguration of the new Quaestor? Childish and specious stitching? Desire to charge for cup nights, in which a few more smoke colored a Olympic retro version? Vainglory in tarnishing the memory of a symbol of the Curva Sud, handed down from generation to generation?
It is still not legitimate to know what was the real motivation that prompted the forces of order to deny entry of the banner in memory of Roberto Rulli. However, what appears clear is the media boomerang that this has produced. A ban that had repercussions on pages, sites and newspapers, finding – almost strangely I would say – the unanimous condemnation of its uselessness. Would it perhaps have been wiser to let the innocuous and neutral message pass, which at most would have been reported on the sidelines of the sports news? The answer is obvious, almost rhetorical.
What remains of an afternoon that could have been truly memorable in terms of cheering and folklore is the bitterness of one of the many repressive choices made in Italy. As well as the granite response of a Curva Sud that came out practically en masse and poured into the square in front of the stadium to be immortalized behind the aforementioned banner. A sign of maturity, towards those who have forbidden remembrance, memory. Respect for a boy who left us thirty-three years ago and who perhaps, thanks to his hyphen generational, still scares someone. Because of his free thought and his rebellious soul, he still worries those who would like a firm, immobile, uncritical youth.
The reaction of the South (but also of the Tiber, of the Distinti and of the North) is something which reveals an important sense of community and the desire to keep one’s roots and history alive. In addition to the sacrosanct response to a completely gratuitous repressive act, towards which it was a duty to show one’s dissent. Exactly how it was done: in a peaceful but united way. Maybe someone didn’t expect such a compact curve in defending themselves, maybe someone was hoping for something else (?). Yet yesterday not only the ultras came out of the sector, but also “normal” people. Even those who do not live in groups, but in groups recognize the constant and assiduous guidance of organized support. Because it’s easy to want everyone to be present in Tirana and Budapest, when there is the possibility of experiencing the great event. But it’s increasingly difficult to share even the darkest moments with your associates, or those in which you need to show your nails.
If then, as it seems, the basis of this decision is the fact that Roberto Rulli was a convicted felon, then all we have to do is raise our hands and make petty demagoguery thinking of all those who have made and are making a career with their filthy criminal record within institutions and decision-making bodies. To those who even on more than one occasion have guided and represented this country. Because if the “moral” problem is a boy who died three decades ago, someone who experienced the social context of an Italy very different from the current one, if there is a need to stir the bottom of the pot to find criminal records and justify choices draconian, then we can only have a sad laugh thinking once again of the paradoxes and mental poverty of Italy. Yet this rigidity, this integrity, is not found in other fields of our society. The examples would be many, too many. And one would really fall into vulgar populism.
But affirming that having tried to trample on the memory of a symbol of the Curva Sud was only the latest attempt to demonstrate that he did not understand anything about the ultras movement, its dynamics and, more generally, the dynamics of those who frequent stadiums. The applause of those who remained within the chants of solidarity that started from Salerno (yesterday their support was great) says a lot about how deeply-rooted stadium culture is also in people who don’t directly attend the curve. And he says a lot about how much the attempt to pit fans against his own team merely foundered. Who outside, who inside, yesterday there were over sixty thousand people who agreed on the idiocy of not letting that banner in. A bit like when, on the occasion of the Dead Child Derby, no one believed the Quaestor’s denial. A State that does not have the slightest credibility in the eyes of its citizens is a State that evidently has profound problems at its base. But, rightly so, he has to show his iron fist towards the fans!
“19/5/2023 to Roberto. We have lived in your myth honoring you every minute. Even if he didn’t succeed, watch over us and you will see that one day we will still fight in your name!”. This read the banner, which was equally held in the hand, going beyond any prohibition and beyond any choice outside the basic logic, and which managed to indelibly mark this rainy afternoon at the end of May.
Because you don’t extinguish the legend of Roberto Rulli with bureaucracy and you don’t kill him with reprisals. And his ideas and his philosophy will be handed down forever in the hearts of the boys of the South: “I am Roman and as such I want the name of my city to always prevail over any other. When Rome wins for me it is the whole city that has defeated the opposing one. This is the best satisfaction we can have. So we consider players only bishops with which the Society brings up the name of our beloved city. I therefore reiterate that we do not consider these people idols at all”.
Simone Meloni