Violence around football celebrates a sad anniversary. It has been 100 years since a Uruguayan fan died in Argentina while celebrating Celeste's gold in the 1924 Games. There is no precise documentary evidence, but most researchers consider that death as the first. Ground zero of the ultra culture. A phenomenon so alive, so ruthless, that is updated day by day. Just yesterday, Italian police arrested 19 radicals, accused of "criminal conspiracy, aggravated by the mafia method, as well as extortion and injuries." Among the detainees were Luca Lucci and Renato Bosetti, leaders of Milan's Curva Sud and Inter's Curva Norte. The capo nerazzurro is linked to the N'Drangheta, the most powerful mafia organization in the world. Lucci, already convicted of drug trafficking, is associated with Matteo Salvini, vice president of the Government of Giorgia Meloni. In May 2023, Lucci's lieutenants went to the Milanello facilities to protest the team's defeats. "They encouraged us to give our all," said Stefano Pioli, the rossonero coach at the time.
"Today, what happened at the Metropolitano between Diego Simeone and the Frente Atlético is being talked about, but it is not uncommon to find coaches and players excusing some behaviors of the ultras," explains James Montague to EL MUNDO, author of 1312: Among the Ultras: A journey with the world's most extreme fans (Ebury Press, 2020), one of the most celebrated texts on the subject. "When these groups are powerful and find a space within football, whether in Italy, Germany, or Serbia, they are a collective that is worth listening to, whether you like it or not," adds the British author.
The French football has been joining this strategy precisely through the Instance Nationale du Supportérisme, a working group that includes, since 2017, the Ministries of Interior and Sports, the Federation, Ligue 1, a panel of sociologists, and the representatives of the ultras. "In my country, these groups are more structured than in Spain, where everything seems much more spontaneous. Of course, in the Frente Atlético, there will also be a hardcore nucleus, but not as organized as here," details to this newspaper Adrien Verrecchia, one of the authors of Ultra, mode de vie (La Grinta, 2017), a 530-page volume that addresses, among other episodes, PSG's decision to expel Kop de Boulogne and Virage Auteuil, its two historic factions.
Trend "very difficult to stop"
Most stadiums in Ligue 1, created or updated for Euro 2016, have the most modern security measures, including cameras with a zoom capable of identifying anyone throwing objects. "In Spain, unfortunately, everything focuses on repression. And I consider that it makes no sense to sanction an entire fan base for what certain individuals have done. In the case of object throwing, we should never consider ourselves safe from an individual initiative. So, from my point of view, there is no miraculous recipe, no magic potion," Verrecchia confirms.
According to data from the National Police, 305 ultras were arrested during the last two seasons in Spanish football, linked to violence-related crimes. Concerning figures, although lower than those of countries like Italy. "From here, what happens in Spain is seen as something natural. Not good, but normal after all. In my country, it happens quite normally, despite the many laws passed to curb the worst of hooliganism. But this phenomenon is linked to politics and clubs, so now it is very difficult to stop the trend," says Diego Mariottini, another expert on the connections between football and society. From Ultraviolenza! Storie di sangue del tifo italiano (Bradipolibri, 2004) to his most recent Dios, patria y muerte. El fútbol en la guerra de los Balcanes (Altamarea, 2021), this writer has studied the implications of the far-right in stadiums.
"The Frente is known for its links with fascist groups throughout Europe. Since the early 90s, when President Jesús Gil became famous for sympathizing with them. In any case, it is a general problem, not Spanish or from Atlético. The fascistization of the stands has been underestimated over the years and is now a major problem to solve," concludes the Italian author.
In Argentina, on the other hand, the phenomenon of barras bravas occupies different coordinates. They are also organized groups through a vertical structure and closely linked to clubs, which extended their domains to other areas such as unions or political parties, increasing their power quota and achieving millionaire incomes. However, the ideological profile remains more blurred. "In the 80s and 90s, episodes of violence were related to confrontations between bars of rival clubs, but at the beginning of the century, with the prohibition of visiting fans, it evolved into fights between factions of the same team's barra. Unlike Europe, in these clashes, many firearms appear, increasing the death toll," points out the sociologist Nicolás Cabrera to this newspaper.
"What happened with Simeone and Koke is another example that football actors never take responsibility for the violence they exert. There is zero self-criticism. Violence is always in the other. I see them more concerned with furthering their own interests than building a football that is increasingly tolerant, inclusive, and peaceful," says Cabrera, an Argentine based in Brazil, whose teaching work is circumscribed to the Observatório Social do Futebol at the Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro.
Like Verrecchia, Cabrera advocates for an "individual punishment system," such as the one offered by the Programa Tribuna Segura. Every person entering an Argentine stadium must identify themselves with their ID number, so if they have criminal records or pending issues with the law, their entry is automatically invalidated. And if someone participates in a fight, cameras capture their image, and they are banned from attending more matches.
Returning to our continent, one of the lessons left by the last Eurocup in Germany was that fluid exchange of ultra culture. Violence intertwined by their fellow believers. "It is an international network based on shared cultural or political values. But the most important factor is knowing who acts as the antagonist, as a law rules here: the enemy of my enemy is my friend," illustrates Montague, before giving another example. If the Frente Atlético is related to radicals from Roma, it is largely because Ultra Sur maintains a certain friendship with those from Lazio. "It is often more important who you are against than who you support," he concludes.
"Ultra culture in Spain is not known for its large tifos or pyrotechnic displays, although it does reflect the ideas of a part of the community. In the case of the Frente Atlético, the far-right. Spanish ultras are, to a large extent, a mix of Italian aesthetics and their country's politics," Montague concludes. According to his aforementioned book, the ultra phenomenon was first consolidated in Italy in the late 1960s and from there spread throughout Europe. That culture reached Spain after the dictator's death, with a strong influence from English and Italian fans present at the 1982 World Cup. That nightmare from four decades ago is haunting us again today.