Dirty TackleLazio fans arrested near Roma match with weapons, tennis racquet
Coming off the violence caused by a group of Serbian fans that got a Euro 2012 qualifying match in Genoa abandoned last week, match security in Italy has been stepped up. As a result, three Lazio fans were arrested near the Stadio Olimpico ahead of the match between intra-city rivals Roma and Genoa on Saturday for possessing a horrifying, yet interesting, collection of weapons.
From the AP:
The three men — aged 20, 23 and 27 — were apprehended by police near the Olympic Stadium after an officer spotted a machete under a seat, ANSA news agency reported Sunday.
Following a search, police also found baseball bats, knives, sticks, two clubs, a tennis racquet and a ski mask.
OK. I understand the usefulness of all those items in committing needlessly violent acts against people you don't like, except the tennis racquet. I mean, I guess you can do some damage with it, but I have to think that was intended for use during a tennis lesson after the game and the police -- in their heightened state of concern -- simply lumped it in with the other (actual) weapons. Either that or I've been woefully ignorant of the true extent of a tennis racquet's uses all my life.
Photo: Getty Images
