The silence is deafening: What happens now? [Bonus Article]
I initially told myself that I wouldn’t write about the whole Curva Sud ordeal, simply because of how infected and complex the matter is. However, after Saturday’s silence at San Siro, I just couldn’t help myself from sharing some thoughts. At the end of the day, no one benefits from the current stalemate and we are at risk of significant long-term effects unless something changes very soon.
Like I said, whenever you begin to touch on the subject of football ultras, you realise that there are so many layers involved. And when you factor in the modernisation (some would say Americanisation) that football is going through, everything becomes even trickier. That is because we are fundamentally talking about two opposites here: a David and Goliath friction, if you will.
On one side, you have passionate fans who want to support the club week in and week out, spending their hard-earned money on watching the red and black colours. On the other side, you have a company that is trying to fetch as much money as possible from these fans. It sounds extreme, but there are countless examples of this development. It’s not just Milan either, but almost all clubs (especially the big ones).
This is something we have to keep in mind at all times, without fail, as we are talking about fans that have been around for much longer than RedBird, or even Elliott Management for that matter. There is a sense of ownership among the fans, rightfully so in many cases, and the actual owners (or custodians, as Gerry Cardinale himself said) must tread carefully to preserve this delicate balance.
Having said that, as always in these situations, there are two sides to the story and that is what I will try to convey in this article. I’m not particularly interested in pointing fingers too much, but there are things that have been handled poorly by both parties. Now is the time for dialogue, compromise, and so on. Otherwise, we could find ourselves in an increasingly damaging situation.
