Football

All matches in the Italian football league have been cancelled this weekend, and a friendly match between Italy and Romania next Wednesday has been called off as well. The reason for this was the death of a police officer at a match between Sicilian sides Palermo and Catania. He was struck in the face by a small explosive in last night's tie.
Another match official was killed in a football match elsewhere in Italy earlier in the week. Italian football has become increasingly dogged by violence, and a senior official of the Italian league has stated that measures need to be taken, as the current state of affairs cannot continue. "This is not like football, so football has to stop".

Football has been dogged by a series of lethal incidents over the years. The worst was the Heizel Stadium disaster in 1985, when clashes between rival Liverpool and Juventus fans in Brussels left 39 people dead. Violence between rival fans (or hooligans more appropriately) is a world-wide problem.

My interpretation is that a football team is a source of local, regional and national pride, which evokes a mob-mentality in people. Someone wrote that Football is War. I have to say that I find the amounts of money paid for players to move from club to club are plain ridiculous - you're talking millions of pounds. Just for them to cavort a grassy field for 90 minutes once or twice a week??