'Police didn't negotiate with soccer hooligans,' Alfano says

Italian cup marred by pre-kickoff violence, three ultras shot

(ANSA) - Rome, May 5 - Police did not negotiate with soccer hooligans on Saturday in order to start the delayed Italian cup final between Napoli and Fiorentina, after violence that included three Napoli fans who were injured by gunfire, Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said Monday. "The State is here, it's strong, and it does not make deals with hardcore fans," he said.

Following some of the worst violence surrounding Italian soccer in recent years, the kickoff to Saturday's match in Rome was delayed by 40 minutes as hardcore fans shot flares and fireworks onto the pitch, injuring at least one fireman. The ruckus was quelled only after Napoli player Marek Hamsik and officials went to their side of the Stadio Olimpico to reason with Napoli 'Curva A' supporters and their leader, Gennaro de Tommaso, aka 'Genny 'a carogna', before live television and tens of thousands of fans who included Italian Premier Matteo Renzi. At one point De Tommaso, who has alleged ties to the Naples-based Camorra mafia, mounted a metal fence and raised his tattooed arms to the crowd, which eventually calmed the chaos and allowed the game to begin. De Tommaso was also wearing a t-shirt that called for the prison release of a hardcore fan convicted of killing a police officer. Alfano on Monday vehemently denied that police or Napoli asked De Tommaso for permission to begin the game. The fans were incensed by a violent pre-game altercation three kilometers outside the stadium between Napoli fans and a group of rivals, not from Fiorentina, but from local team AS Roma. The well-known leader of the Roma ultras, 48-year-old Daniele De Santis, allegedly fired six shots in the fight, hitting three Napoli fans, one of whom is in critical condition.

Napoli went on to win the final 3-1.