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NOTE: There is no direct English translation of the Italian word ‘buonismo’, used in the interview.

A ‘do-gooder;’ or ‘bleeding-heart liberal’ would be the nearest thing to someone who practises ‘buonismo’ in English.

  RADIO CAPITAL SPORT

30/10/01 – ROME - Tim Parks, 47, born in Manchester, is a Guardian journalist.  Having lived in Verona since 1981, he is a fan of Hellas Verona, the premier [football] club of the town.  Recently he has become well-known for an article that was taking aim at Chievo and the ‘buonismo’ surrounding the squad.

  One of those who has ranked against him is Michela Sironi Mariotti, mayor of Verona, who has declared: “To publish an article like that, fifteen days before a delicate match like the Derby, shows how a lot of scatterbrains are to be found in every type of football supporter.”

  Guiseppe Perrelli interviewed Tim Parks:

  RADIO CAPITAL: You have decided, against the tide, to attack Chievo Verona.  Why is that?

  TIM PARKS: I am not against Chievo Verona. I have expressed opinions against the ‘buonismo’ that has attached itself to the Chievo phenomenon.

  RADIO CAPITAL: In this piece, you complain of the mentality of those who support Cheivo.

  TIM PARKS: Not so much the mentality.   The true fans of  Chievo have all my respect, and also all those who go to the stadium to see the actual squad win deserve it.  Not that I know what will happen to today’s tens of thousands of supporters when Chievo start to lose.  It is that all the Italian press has begun to want Chievo to do well because to be a fan of Chievo [it seems] is to love the whole world.  The attitude does not take into account of the therapeutic value of being a fan: the stadium is a place circumscribed, where a fundamentalist kind of behaviour is possible.  Then, having just left the stadium, a kind of serenity returns.  And this is attractive because it gives to people the possibility to vent their negative side, attitudes that would otherwise reverberate dangerously outside in the street or in the family.  And then to praise this environment in which there are no roars or affronts breaks me into little pieces.   I, for example, went to see Reggio Calabria against Verona in the play-offs to remain in Serie A two years ago.  When they entered, the stadium were yelling to us: ‘Kill! Kill! Kill!’  But it is not that I have been offended or have gotten angry.  Rather I have thought here, the tension, the clash, has been attractive! I don’t go to Reggio Calabria to hear  “We want you to do well.”

  RADIO CAPITAL: This speech has, at its foundation, a sense of loving soccer understanding it.  But is there not a risk that it could be distorted by others?

  TIM PARKS: There is always someone that, in any situation, is not capable of distinguishing between the theatre of the stadium and true life.  However, I will not be the one to cause these problems in a playful article.

  RADIO CAPITAL: Your fellow countryman, Nick Hornby, has written a celebrated book, “Fever to 90” [Fever Pitch], from which a film has been made in which the protagonist rages with women when they say ‘But basically, soccer is only a game’…Perhaps Cheivo Verona should be praised for thinking like the women in Hornby.

  TIM PARKS:  Actually, it is also a fault of the Chievo sympathiser who says: “It’s great to go to the stadium! It’s great to go to the cinema!” This means not to understand the emotions a fan experiences. One does not go to the cinema to yell.  To say that it is “only” a game means not to understand how much space a fan can occupy on an existential level.

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