Euro 2020, prefect: “Italy parade on the bus was not authorized”

The parade of the European champion Italy on the open bus through the streets of Rome had not been authorized. To say it is the prefect of the capital, Matteo Piantedosi, at the Corriere della Sera. “We had denied permission to celebrate the victory of Italy to the Europeans on the open bus, but the pacts were not respected”, says the prefect, who fears “the possible consequences that could occur in the coming weeks, despite the great work done. “. “Last Friday we convened a committee for order and security. I – he explains – had agreed the line with the Minister of the Interior Luciana Lamorgese and with the police chief Lamberto Giannini. The meeting was precisely to decide what to do and for this reason we also directly involved the FIGC which asked to allow the athletes of the National team to take a tour of Rome on an open bus, but it was clearly explained that it was not possible and that we could not authorize them “. “We had to manage the passage from the Quirinale to Palazzo Chigi trying to reconcile it with the security needs linked to the pandemic and therefore avoid gatherings in every way – continues Piantedosi – On Monday morning the FIGC proposed various solutions, the last of which was to use a platform to assemble in Piazza del Popolo, in the center of Rome, where to pick up the players to celebrate with the fans. We thought it could be a viable mediation because it allowed us to keep the crowd under control in one place, also verifying that people wore masks as required by the decree in force when there are gatherings. In the early afternoon of Monday we had other direct contacts with the FIGC staff who renewed the request to be able to use the open bus. We explained to everyone that the evaluations they hadn’t changed. ” And the platform was not mounted. “We thought that the players would have stopped in front of Palazzo Chigi after the meeting with the Prime Minister Mario Draghi. They had assured us – continues the prefect – that the transfer would take place with a covered bus. Quirinale joined an open-top bus with the livery and writings dedicated to the European champions “. From the staff of President Gravina “they claimed that there was already a lot of crowds on the streets and the players had a strong intention to continue the celebrations with a ride on an open bus – he continues – There were thousands of people waiting for the bus ride, banning it could have created problems of public order “. “I understand that Chiellini and Bonucci represented their understanding with determination to the staff in the order service; at that point it was not possible to do anything but take note of the situation and manage it in the best possible way. The complexity and delicacy is testified to. from the images from which you can see that practically only the police forces wore masks. Everything that happened has deeply embittered us – concludes Piantedosi – for a year, even in the most difficult periods, in Rome we have always tried to apply the measures anti-Covid by stimulating the collaboration of citizens and productive categories rather than imposing draconian measures. I hope that Italy will win the World Cup next year to have the same celebrations: we will deal directly with the players “.