On 4 June 1989, Milan-Roma was played at San Siro. Antonio De Falchi is a Giallorossi fan, who took the train to Milan and is about to enter the Meazza. From Piazzale Axum – with tram number 24 – you have to walk about 200 meters. The eighties, however, represent a border era, of generational ford, especially in the stadiums. Because violence struck where you didn’t expect it. And a passerby first asks De Falchi for the cigarette, then what time it was. The Roman accent is difficult to disguise and is practically his death sentence, at a quarter to twelve on any Sunday, a few hours before the match.
Thirty people appear in front of him. They rush towards De Falchi’s company. The police are there, but too few in number to try to stop the attacks. The four Roma players are reached, three of them are standing while Antonio falls and is punched and kicked. The beating is furious and lasts very little, but it is brutal.
When the thugs leave him alone, the police intervene. The initial conditions do not appear serious. But then he becomes cyanotic and collapses to the ground. No mouth-to-mouth resuscitation or cardiac massage that matters, the ride to the San Carlo Hospital is fast but not timely. De Falchi, in fact, died of a heart attack due to a slight malformation. Dead of fear, in short. The subsequent investigation will lead to the conviction of a twenty-year-old, seven years, but he will end up free shortly after. All the others acquitted due to insufficient evidence.
