Wednesday, July 7, 2010

It's Only a Game

Taken from the ESPN Soccernet website:

Italian pair killed over finals argument
July 7, 2010

A German man accused of killing two Italian supporters after an argument about World Cup triumphs got out of hand has been captured on the Spanish island of Majorca.

Italians Franco Siccu, 47, and Giuseppe Longhitano, 49, were at a bar in Hannover, Germany, when they entered into a heated debate with a 42-year-old man known only as 'Holger B'.
The pair claimed that their nation had won more World Cups than Germany (they were right as the tally is four to three in favour of the Azzurri), but the German man disagreed.

'Holger B' left the bar to apparently get some money but returned with a 9mm pistol, which he allegedly used to shoot Siccu and Longhitano dead. Siccu died instantly, Longhitano a day later in hospital from his wounds.

"Witnesses said the row was over who had won the World Cup most," a police spokesman said. "Tragically, it escalated out of hand." The incident sparked a manhunt in Germany, as police searched for the killer of the pair, who were living and working in Germany as chefs.

Having fled to Spain, the suspect surrendered to authorities on Tuesday, giving himself up to a court in Palma, where he has now been remanded in custody by a magistrate. "We had early indications that the suspect had fled to Majorca," a police spokesman said.

A spokeswoman for Hannover's state prosecutor explained the suspect is likely to be extradited to Germany in the near future.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/806792/ce/uk/?cc=5739&ver=global

3 comments:

LindyLouMac said...

Over a game of football! If this is what it does to people I am glad that I am not a fan.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Well done for highlighting this. It is ridiculous. As you say, it's a GAME.

Saretta said...

It's so tragic. Violent actions like this just knock the stuffing out of me. How can people do these things?