Abstract

Football is one of those fields where security has long been regarded as an urgent issue. Over the past few years in Italy the regulatory framework has been replenished with increasingly harsh measures as a response to the idea of a security emergency, while less attention has been given to other civil rights. The idea that ultras are a constant threat to public health is the most important justification for this regulatory tightening, regardless of any empirical validation of the actual dangerousness of Italian stadiums. This paper aims to understand if and to what extent ultras’ representation in the press has sustained peoples’ ideas and common sense directed at strengthening the «security paradigm» and at promoting the legislative tightening in terms of safety in the stadiums. For this reason we have analysed the articles coming from the two best-selling Italian newspapers – la Repubblica» e il «Corriere della Sera»– dated back to the periods, subsequent the death of Filippo Raciti and Ciro Esposito, which have led to the approval of significantly harsh laws.