Juventus coach Max Allegri reportedly grabbed a Tuttosport journalist after their 1-0 Coppa Italia win, demanding he ‘write the truth’. There were reports this morning in La Repubblica newspaper that Allegri had been involved in an angry altercation with journalists.
Writing in Tuttosport, journalist Guido Vaciago recounted the incident in his column, saying Allegri grabbed him and threatened to rip his ears off:
“A chronicle of an evening of ordinary madness in the belly of the Olimpico, slowly emptying as Juventus rightfully celebrates, dancing in the locker room, and its coach vents all his anger through the stadium’s festively dressed corridors after the final. And it’s precisely in the corridor running along the enormous press room that I, let’s say, “encountered” Allegri. Before the incident becomes a case, with subsequent social distortions, I offer my account of the unpleasant event.
The Events:
Allegri, evidently agitated, was undergoing the last media commitment of his triumphant (but evidently not too serene) evening, the press conference, but found a few minutes for me. “You piece of shit director! Yes, you piece of shit director. Write the truth in your newspaper, not what the club tells you! Stop doing favors for the club.” At first, when I invited him to calm down and explain to me what truth I was concealing in cahoots with his employers, Allegri responded by grabbing and pushing me, poking his finger under my nose, shouting, “Look, I know where to find you. I know where to wait for you. I’ll come and rip both your ears off. I’ll come and punch you in the face. Write the truth in the newspaper,” and other bar brawl repertoire amenities. Meanwhile, Gabriella Ravizzotti from Juventus’ press office and a Serie A League staff member restrained him, eventually managing to drag him into the press room. That’s it: it’s regrettable for those expecting something more violent and regrettable for the rudeness of someone who, especially in public, should behave differently.
The Reflection:
Of the whole affair, which in itself should not become news, the doubt remains as to what Allegri’s elusive “truth” might be because if we knew it, we would gladly dedicate two pages to it. And unfortunately, there remains the threatening attitude of the Juventus coach towards a journalist. In a confrontation, everything can happen, even insults to the limit, but not threats. Threats are cowardly, intimidating, and even dangerous, in a world where the possibility that someone will bother to put them into practice is always lurking.
Allegri, last night, evidently unleashed a rage that had been simmering in him for months: he is a human being, and it can happen, but he is also the coach of Juventus, and it should happen a little less. Since on his tumultuous Roman evening, he insulted the referee, assaulted the fourth official, and after the match, attacked Rocchi (twenty-four hours after the meeting with President Mattarella, who, in welcoming the final teams, identified himself precisely with the referees). And, furthermore, he was caught on camera inviting Giuntoli to leave just before the award ceremony, in short, he won the Cup and lost control, ruining the party and embarrassing his club considerably (which immediately and very carefully apologized), whose composure is quite different.
The truth, we at Tuttosport, have always written it, and we will always write it, together with our opinions, which may or may not please (just like Allegri’s game), but they remain as they are, and we express them with politeness, without pushing, and remaining open to dialogue with anyone who wants to contradict them. With politeness and without pushing, obviously.”
