Catania CEO Pietro Lo Monaco said he was “hurt inside” at being attacked by masked Ultras, but “won’t press charges,” as he hopes it can help "real fans" turn on thugs.
The Serie C side initially threatened to abandon a Coppa Italia match Potenza, which later was played and won by Catania, and now the 65-year-old director spoke about the shock incident on the ferry when he was travelling to meet with the squad at their hotel.
Catania CEO Pietro Lo Monaco said he was “hurt inside” at being attacked by masked Ultras, but “won’t press charges,” as he hopes it can help "real fans" turn on thugs.
The Serie C side initially threatened to abandon a Coppa Italia match Potenza, which later was played and won by Catania, and now the 65-year-old director spoke about the shock incident on the ferry when he was travelling to meet with the squad at their hotel.
“It hurts inside to be attacked from behind. In those moments you don’t understand much. I went to the bar to have a coffee and was attacked,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I won’t press charges. Whoever did this has marked themselves for life. There are cameras. It went well, luckily no one died, because it could've been a lot worse."
The incident has left a mark on the director beyond a bloody nose and he claims it cuts deeper than it may seem from the outside.
“To be attacked in the middle of a group of people is not a nice thing. Yesterday’s incident was heralded by banners, a pig’s head left on the pitch a long time ago and a crazy social media campaign that I can’t figure out where it comes from,” he added.
“It all culminated with the incident yesterday, but there’s a story that leads to all this. The mayor could have avoided the statements, the things we heard are all triggers.
“I don’t have any marks on my face, but I am marked on the inside, you can’t understand what it means to be violated. You don’t expect aggression, so I don’t know how much I could reason, taking the group outside the bar. I was at mercy for five minutes. They told me the most horrid things.
“But I won’t press charges, I’m not used to that. I repeat, those who did this have all stood up and shown their true colours. I hope that this incident will inspire you to isolate the violent faction from the real fans. Real fans don’t do what they did.
"When you give a voice to the violence, this is the result. The facts, the comments, the public figures will influence and direct it."