Football
Ben Gladwell, Italy correspondent 9y

Torino fans face trouble after throwing cherry bomb at Juventus coach

The Italian sports authorities have vowed to come down hard on the troublemakers who marred the Turin derby that Torino won 2-1 against Juventus on Sunday.

Torino fans damaged the Juventus coach as it approached the stadium while a cherry bomb thrown by Juve fans injured 10 people -- two seriously -- when it exploded in the home fans' section.

"I can't take this anymore; I'm sick of it," said Giovanni Malago, president of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), in quotes reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"Each weekend we should be talking about all the good things emerging from other sports, yet they always get suffocated by what happens in football. Clearly we've got to take another look at this problem."

Italian FA (FIGC) president Carlo Tavecchio has vowed to do just that, saying that whoever threw the cherry bomb is "subversive."

"What could be worse than throwing a bomb?" Tavecchio asked. "Now we're going to seek severe punishments of the highest level for those responsible. We're going to have to evaluate carefully what happened and listen to the powers of justice before taking consequential action."

The first steps were taken on Monday with Sampdoria, Juventus' next hosts in Serie A on Saturday, announcing via Twitter that they have been ordered to suspend the sale of tickets to visiting Juventus supporters.

It was consequently another setback for Italian football with the violence earning more headlines than Torino's first derby win in over 20 years, and taking attention away from what had been a fine week for Italian teams in Europe.

With Juventus qualifying for the semifinals of the Champions League, and Fiorentina and Napoli reaching the last four of the Europa League, Tavecchio was enthusing about the revival of the Italian game before Sunday's regression.

"I'd like to compliment Juventus, Fiorentina and Napoli on reaching the semifinals of the most prestigious European competitions," he said on the FIGC website.

"Italian football is becoming a protagonist of European football again and thanks to these results, our ranking improves and the whole system benefits.

"We're proud to be represented at the highest levels by these three clubs, who I hope will continue their paths with even more satisfaction."

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