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Six injured, two seriously, in Juventus title parade

Six Juventus fans were injured, two seriously, when a truck they were travelling in during the Italian champions' victory parade on Saturday night struck the electric cables of the city's tramway, according to media reports.

Published: 20 May 2018 03:42 CEST
Six injured, two seriously, in Juventus title parade
A fan truck behind the players' bus got entangled in electric cables. Photo: MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP
The team were celebrating winning their seventh straight Serie A title and fourth Italian Cup in a row with an open top bus parade through the streets of Turin.
 
According to reports, the truck was carrying supporters from one of the team's fan clubs and was closely following the players' bus before becoming entangled in the electric cables of the tram.
 
Six were injured and two will remain in hospital overnight, one being treated for concussion and the other a neck injury. One fan is reported to be a 38-year-old Italian and the second a 63-year-old Irishman.
 
Earlier Saturday, club legend Gianluigi Buffon played his final game for Juventus, bringing the curtain down on a 17-year career as the champions enjoyed a 2-1 win over Verona.
 
It was the first time since 2014 under Antonio Conte that Juventus's players got to celebrate their title with their fans in the streets of Turin where they were greeted by thousands of their supporters.
 
Coach Massimiliano Allegri this season lead the club to a fourth successive league and Cup double of his reign. But in recent years Juventus skipped the parade because they had qualified for the Champions League final in 2015 and 2017 with the European championships in 2016.
 
On Saturday, the team left the Allianz Stadium in a fog of smoke from flares and fire crackers after being presented with the Scudetto trophy.
 
Escorted by scooters, the open top bus made its way towards the city centre along Corso Regina Margherita, one of the longest avenues in the city. Waving flags in the club colours of black and white, with beer and cigars in their hands, the players arrived at Piazza Castello, where the atmosphere hit fever pitch with songs, more fire crackers, green, white and red in the colours of Italy, or the black and white of the jersey of the champions.
 
The bus then made its way through the throng of supporters along Via Po before finally arriving at Piazza Vittorio Veneto, where it was surrounded by a sea of fans waving flags and scarves in the colours of the club champion of Italy. 
 
In the morning, fans had arrived in Turin from all over Italy for this celebration which also marked Buffon's farewell.
 
uventus this season won the their 34th Scudetto and 13th Italian Cup. 
 
The number 36 was held aloft on the bus by players as the club also counted the two titles of 2005 and 2006 which the club were stripped of for their role in the calciopoli match-fixing scandal.
 
By AFP's Emmeline Moore

FOOTBALL

Euro 2020: Concern about virus spread after Italy players’ ‘unauthorised’ victory parade through Rome

Italy’s national football team reportedly insisted on taking an open-top bus tour through Rome to show off their European Championship trophy to crowds of fans - despite city authorities forbidding it amid concern about the spread of coronavirus.

Published: 15 July 2021 09:37 CEST
Euro 2020: Concern about virus spread after Italy players' ‘unauthorised’ victory parade through Rome
Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP

The team’s bus parade through the city on Monday night following their Euro 2020 triumph “was not authorised”, according to Matteo Piantedosi the head of Rome’s prefettura (the public safety authority).

Thousands of fans packed the streets of central Rome to see the team celebrate their cup win after beating England on penalties in the final.

READ ALSO: ‘Football came home’: Italy celebrates Euro 2020 victory over England

Piantedosi told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Wednesday: “We had denied permission to celebrate Italy’s victory in the European Championships on the open bus, but the pact was not respected.”

Piantedosi, who is Rome’s top public security official, said police had “no choice” but to let the parade go ahead after players Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci insisted on it.

Photo: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP

A meeting had been held on Friday with the Italian football federation (FIGC) to discuss plans for the celebrations if Italy won, said Piantedosi.

“I had agreed the line with Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese and Chief of Police Lamberto Giannini,” he said.

“It was clearly explained that [the parade] was not possible. We said we could not authorize it.”

Piantedosi said the Italian football federation (FIGC) initially agreed to hold a “controlled” ceremony in Rome’s central Piazza del Popolo instead of the parade.

After players insisted on the bus tour on Monday however, Piantedosi said, authorities reluctantly let them go ahead due to fears of sparking public disorder.

“At that point we had no choice but to acknowledge the situation and handle it in the best way we could,” he said.

READ ALSO: Covid cases on the rise in Europe once again as WHO warns of Euro 2020 risk

Photo: Andreas Solaro/AFP

In a statement on Wednesday, the FIGC said it had acted responsibly but decided not to disappoint fans who had come to celebrate with the team.

Footage of large crowds thronging the bus carrying the ‘Azzurri’ and the European Championship trophy through the capital however fuelled concerns about new outbreaks of coronavirus, after Italy’s infection rate began to rise again last week.

The World Health Organization warned earlier this month that crowds and gatherings connected to football matches will fuel a new rise in cases across Europe this summer.

READ ALSO: Delta variant in Italy will be ‘prevalent within 10 days’: health official

Italy’s health minister Roberto Speranza also voiced concerns on Monday about the consequences of people gathering to watch sporting events.

He said the European football championship win was “a great joy after terrible months,” but “even in these moments of national pride we can’t forget that our ‘game’ to defeat Covid is not yet won.”

There are currently minimal health restrictions in place across Italy, however masks are supposed to be worn in crowded public places, including outdoors.

“Footage shows that police were virtually the only ones [in the crowd] wearing masks,” said Piantedosi.

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