Mafia suspected as fans take over train

SERIE A OFF-THE-FIELD VIOLENCE:  ITALIAN FOOTBALL is in the wars again and, this time, the "war" may well involve organised crime.

When the season kicked off last weekend, observers had hoped all the attention would focus on the famous new arrivals in Italy, men like Ronaldhino who has moved from Barcelona to AC Milan or former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan.

Sadly, and all too familiarly, the headlines were grabbed by violent off-the-field events when hundreds of Napoli fans commandeered and vandalised a train taking them to Rome for their game with AS Roma. Bad enough that the Napoli hooligans caused €500,000 worth of damage, but much more worrying are the claims from senior police officers that the camorra, the Neapolitan mafia, were directly or indirectly involved.

"We have reason to believe that behind the (violent) incidents perpetrated by Napoli fans last weekend, there is the influence of organised crime," said Italian head of police Antonio Manganelli.

That view was substantiated by Nicola Cavaliere, head of criminal police, who confirmed that 200 of the Napoli "fans" on the train had criminal records for drug trafficking or armed robbery.

Confirming that the investigation into the incident will start with the alleged involvement of organised crime, Cavaliere added: "No one is saying that the camorra set up the whole incident, but what we do say is that among those pseudo-fans who caused it, there are definitely people closely linked to organised crime."

Initial government response has been sharp, if a bit "after-the-event". Interior minister Roberto Maroni announced on Wednesday that Napoli fans will be banned from travelling to matches for the entire 2008-2009 season.

Yesterday, prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, himself owner of AC Milan, speaking in Naples, where he was attending a series of meetings with regional governors in relation to the rubbish crisis that afflicted Naples and the Campania area for the first six months of this year, confirmed the government hardline: "You have all seen how the interior minister has handled this matter . . . we're heading in the right direction - the Napoli fans will be banned from organised travelling to away games this season even if, naturally enough, people can go individually to support their favourite team."

But investigators will want to know why no special train was made available for the Napoli fans, given it was no secret that as many as 1,500 had indicated they would be travelling by train.

Most worrying, however, are the alleged links with organised crime. Allegations of camorra involvement with Napoli are nothing new. In the 1980s, Diego Maradona was courted by the Giuliano family, then one of the most powerful crime families in Naples. When Maradona moved from Barcelona to Napoli in 1984, many speculated that recycled camorra money had "contributed" to his $6 million transfer fee.

More recently, there may have been Mafia involvement in the riots before the February 2007 Sicilian derby between Catania and Palermo, riots in which police inspector Filippo Raciti was killed.