The ultras of Inter are planning to take revenge on ex-player Romelu Lukaku (30). We take you into the belly of the Curva, the grandstand that sometimes goes out of its way. From bloody settlements, to drug trafficking to the fear that the ultras instill in politicians and club leaders.
Sunday, October 29, 2023 is a special day for the Curva Nord, the hard core of Inter. Not only because of the return of the striker who “betrayed” them. The date also brings back a painful memory. Amid the deafening whistling, thoughts will undoubtedly wander to ‘Lo Zio’ on Sunday. The Uncle.
On Saturday, October 29, 2022, exactly one year ago, the Curva Nord is preparing for the league match between Inter and Sampdoria. We write 7.47 pm, an hour before kick-off. About five kilometers further, in the Figino district, Vittorio Boiocchi (69) walks carefree to his front door. His much-discussed capo-ultrà, their ultimate leader, is preparing to watch the match on TV.
Boiocchi has a long criminal record. He spent 26 years in prison. His list of convictions includes involvement in international drug trafficking, robbery, extortion, illegal possession of weapons, theft and kidnapping. The police also suspect him of links to drug cartels of the Sicilian and Calabrian mafia. One for the heaviest list.
Because Boiochhi has a stadium ban, he is not allowed to enter a radius of 2 kilometers around the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium (San Siro). Yet he is spotted there that Saturday evening. He drank pints in the infamous Baretto bar, the regular meeting place for the hard core at the stadium.
At a quarter to eight he is startled on the sidewalk by two masked men. A 9mm semi-automatic rifle is drawn. At least five shots are fired. One lands in the neck, another in the chest. It happened in a few seconds. The perpetrators fled on a motorcycle. A lifeless man is left behind in a large pool of blood.
An ambulance arrives quickly, but all help comes too late. Boiochhi dies on the way to the nearby hospital. At the same time, mobile phones light up in the north stand at San Siro. The news comes in. Faces turn pale. Tears roll. Their leader is no more.
A surreal silence falls in the stadium. The striscioni, their long banners, are quickly rolled up and flags are put away. In this way, the ultras want to show respect to their boss. At half time, the grandstand even empties on command. The Curva is in deep mourning.
Underworld
In police circles they suspect a settlement in the criminal environment. Because the liquidation of ‘the Uncle’ is certainly not the first professional murder of a capo in Italy. Given their ties to the underworld, the Ultras’ subculture is considered a persistent problem.
Ultras live 24 hours a day with a passion for their football club. They see themselves – not entirely unjustly – as the only constant, while administrators, staff members and players come and go. The grouping is actually one of contradictions. There is the violence. There are the tentacles of organized crime. There are the links with the extreme right.
At the same time, there is an atmosphere of camaraderie among the rebels. Friendships are made for life. There is the loyalty to the colors. And their egalitarian thinking: everyone is equal. In the stands, the well-paid lawyer dances and sings next to the factory worker. Together they rebel against the established order. Politics, the police and the media are seen as part of a system that wants to portray them in a bad light.
The Ultras of the big clubs are especially powerful and feared. Because there are many of them, they can make or break careers: those of players, trainers and administrators, but also those of politicians. They have actually been a nuisance to authorities and football clubs for years, but club leaders and those in power still prefer to be friends with them. It’s better to have them on your side than against you.
One hundred criminals from Argentina
Ronaldo, the Brazilian, once received a whistling San Siro after a transfer to Inter rival AC Milan. By chanting his name, the Curva Nord once decided that Luis Figo would take a penalty. Mauro Icardi once brutally confronted the Interisti after they threw back his shirt.
In a conversation, the Argentine problem striker said: “How many are they? Fifty? Hundred? Two hundred? Record my message and let them hear it. I will fly in a hundred criminals from Argentina. They kill them on the spot.” Offensive banners hung in the stadium. And one also appeared at his home with threatening language: “We are here. We are waiting for your Argentinian friends.”
Sunday is also not a first for Lukaku. He’ll have to hear it. He’ll have to read it again. The Curva Nord likes to communicate in slogans. Through social media and banners. Since 2019, Lukaku has already seen a number of passes. Through his own actions, a declaration of love has turned into hatred for the second time. Big Rom should have not sworn loyalty to Inter in word and deed and kissed the club logo.
A champion maker has erased himself from history. After his transfer of 113 million in the summer of 2021 to Chelsea, the Curva sent a first message to the world: “Dear Lukaku, we would have appreciated a little more honesty and transparency. We have welcomed and defended you like a son, but you now prove that you are like all the others. You kneel for money. We wish you all the best. Even if greed doesn’t always yield anything.”
When he asked for forgiveness in a now infamous interview with Sky Italia a few months later, a harsh response from the Curva followed: “It’s not about who runs away when it rains, it’s about who stays when it storms. Daaaaaaaag Romelu.”
Apologies
Lukaku returns to Inter on loan a few months later. The Curva Nord reacts with mixed feelings: “We will never support Lukaku, but we will not drool behind him either. We have not forgotten Lukaku’s betrayal.”
On its knees, Big Rom recaptures the hearts of its supporters. On April 7 of this year, after losing points at Salernitana, Big Rom goes into a bare-chested discussion with disappointed tifosi. On his own. A hand goes up in apology. He also exchanges a few words with Marco Ferdico, one of the three orchestra leaders who sets the tone in the stadium. An action that the ultras appreciate: “Show your face. It doesn’t matter whether things go well or bad. It’s about taking responsibility. In the event of bad luck or setbacks, we will be there for you.”
Three months later a dagger goes through a supporter’s heart. Inter is aggrieved to pull the plug on negotiations with Chelsea over Lukaku. With clever framing, the Italian top club puts all the blame at the feet of Big Rom and lawyer Sébastien Ledure.
The Curva Nord almost immediately announces its revenge: “Those you betrayed will come back to do the same to you. Not because they feel like it, but because it is in their character. Yes, because you, Romelu, deceived us all. Those who defended you to the utmost in difficult circumstances. We stood behind you as one man when the supporters (van Juventus, red.) insulted you.”
“Now you thank us with a knife in the back, as the best Brutus would have done. You have repeatedly kissed the club logo that is worth more to us than our lives. And now you sell yourself to the highest bidder. To call yourself a champion, you have to be a man. You’re not. Lukaku, infamous farewell.”
After his transfer to AS Roma, Curva frontman Marco Ferdico continues to write to target the “notorious traitor”. For example, a banner targeting Lukaku suddenly appears at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. A new statement follows on Instagram during the international break: “We don’t care what you have to say. If you have the balls (we doubt it), come to the Meazza where Milan will be waiting for you.”
Lukaku’s return has been seriously hyped in the Italian media in recent days. In Rome, one man understands little of it: coach José Mourinho. ‘The Special One’ is forever a hero at Inter after the Champions League triumph in 2010. He does not understand how a passer-by with one national title can arouse such feelings of hatred: “Was he that important?”
80,000 euros per month
‘Lo Zio’ will not experience Lukaku’s return on Sunday, nor will his successor. The new capo of the Curva, Andrea Beretta, is also under strict supervision by the judiciary. He still keeps a firm grip on things through accomplices. After all, being an ultra-leader is a lucrative job, as Boiocchi boasted a few months before his death: “I earn about 80,000 balls a month.”
To prevent their hard core from stirring things up, chairmen do everything they can to placate them. Police telephone taps show that Boiocchi traded around 700 to 800 tickets per match. He checked parking lots around the stadium. And two paninari, sandwich stalls, each paid 10,000 euros per match for a stand. It is not known whether the Curva Nord continues the activities of ‘de Nonkel’ clandestinely today.
