BUFFON: TOO SINCERE TO BE ITALIAN

Italy’s the country of Pinocchio, the woody puppet of the story written by Carlo Collodi. Pinocchio used to lie and every time he told a lie his nose got longer. Italian people seems to be worthy sons of Pinocchio. They love telling lies and they especially seem to love if someone tells them lies. Sometimes I think that in Italy everything is the opposite of how it should be. Italian people prefer hearing lies instead of the truth. This happens in politics where there’s always a competition between who tells the most unbelievable  story. But it  also happens in football, where for example if someone tries to be honest he detonates a scandal. This is what happened with Gigi Buffon, Juventus and Italian national team goal keeper. He’s one of the strongest goalkeeper of the history. But besides being a great goalkeeper Buffon is also known as a genuine person. So he was sincere  when, during  the Milan-Juve match last Saturday, the referee failed to award Milan’s Muntari a goal when the goal-bound header clearly crossed the line without being awarded: “”Even if I had seen the ball inside I would never have confessed it”, Buffon admitted.

He said what all other football players would have done. But in Italy, a country where being a liar is the rule, telling the truth is a terrible sin. Buffon, the captain of our national team, was in fact immediately criticized.  TV programs (in particular TV channels belonging to Berlusconi), sports institutions, and politician were all against Buffon.  Everyone pointed the finger at him. There’s also who wants to remove him from role as the captain of the  Italian national team. All this because he attempted to be sincere. An absurdity. The typical fake Italian moralism that makes me disgusted.  I’m happy to agree with Buffon. Let’ s try to imagine what could have happened if Buffon would have confessed that the ball was inside the goal: He would be a traitor towards his team mates in a fundamental match of the season. Buffon is just a football player who plays for Juventus. His mission is to make Juventus win.  Buffon doesn’t  want to be a saint. The people just ask him  to save as many goals as possible.  Italian people should  ask  the politicians- many of which are railing against Buffon - to be honest. “Who is without sin casts the first stone”, a Bible quote that someone should remember more often. Anyway I have a suspicion: criticism against Buffon are useful to hide the insults that Milan’s CEO,  Adriano Galliani made at the referee in a forbidden place- the changing rooms,  during the break of the match. Sometimes for my journalist colleagues, politicians and media it’s  easier to criticize the behavior of a goalkeeper telling the truth, than the one of a powerful manager like Adriano Galliani,  that tries to influence the referee during an important match like Milan-Juve.

Sometimes, I think, Italy is not only the country of Pinocchio but also the one of Don Abbondio,  the cowardly and opportunistic character in an Italian literature masterpiece called “Promessi Sposi”  written by Alessandro Manzoni.