Seven years after England’s last bid to host a World Cup failed, along comes another one, with the plans so far to go it alone once more. Mark Perryman thinks it’s the wrong bid at the wrong time
Few England fans would pass up the chance of their country hosting the 2018 World Cup. But why is the campaign drum being beaten now, when the 2014 hosts are yet to be selected and doubt is being heaped on South Africa’s abilities to hold the next one?
As well as being involved in violence, Italian fan groups have been about flags, flares and noise. Pete Green looks at attempts to improve the atmosphere at UK grounds by importing the best of ultra culture
“It’s not about copying the nutters in Italy,” insisted one supporter as a Leicester message board recently heated up over the formation of a local ultras group. Those involved may be quick to dissociate themselves from the nastier extremes of their counterparts on the European mainland, but with Italian authority figures calling for a more English approach to crowd control after the recent death of police officer Filippo Raciti at the Catania v Palermo derby, it is difficult to miss the irony of UK fans seeking to co-opt a notorious aspect of Italian football culture.
Amid the gloom, some hope that the staging of the 2012 European Championship could be Italy’s Euro 96. Matthew Barker reports on the hopes invested in a bid and the new stadiums that may result
In the weeks leading up to the death of Filippo Raciti, the Italian sporting press was quietly optimistic of a successful bid to host the 2012 European Championship. Ahead of the announcement on April 18, so too were the clubs, with some, notably Juventus and Lazio, unveiling plans for new or rebuilt homes, set to benefit from generous tax concessions and credit deals from a government keen to be seen to back the bid, if reluctant actually to bankroll it.
The murder of a Sicilian policeman at a game led to new measures to combat Italy’s ultra culture. But, as Vanda Wilcox explains, everyone from the government down sees politics as the cause of the violence
On February 2, Inspector Filippo Raciti was killed by a blow to the stomach, during a deliberate ambush of the police planned and carried out by CC Catania ultras at their Sicilian derby by Palermo. The fatal weapon was a piece of sink wrenched from the wall of a stadium toilet. The police were attacked with rocks, metal bars, baseball bats, flares and – last but not least – home-made bombs, one of which stuck the dying inspector, causing further injuries. Before the match, Catania ultras had collected a huge arsenal of weapons in a stadium storeroom.
Bristol Rovers look to rebuild, reports Steve Menary
With their discounts and perennially empty pockets, students are not big favourites of cash-strapped football club chairmen, but could that be about to change?