obviously this article is from last year, as is clearly stated at the top, but which you perhaps missed? and since this was written a number of alterations have been made to the scheme, I’ve not had time to write an update on the current situation and the article was accurate at the moment it was published. Clarifications and amendments since that date have included clear provisions to ensure that, for instance, tourists won’t have problems getting tickets when they’re over, as well as clarifying situation on the orginal ‘clause 9′ of the TdT regulations.

I’m touched by your idea that looking at the government’s regulations will give you a clear idea of what is being put into practice. If you go and look at the original documents the five-year clause is clear, however if you had read the sample application form issued last year by Minister of the Interior Roberto Maroni you would have seen that it made a blanket reference to ALL offences of whatever date or nature. This error has been officially tidied up now, and as my article above made clear was never part of the original ONMS regulations. Nonetheless this error persists in some club’s documentation eg the Juventus application form requires that you sign a statement saying that you have never received a sentence, making no mention of the 5 year limit: http://www.juventus.com/site/filesite/Juventus_ModuloCartaDelTifoso_9_Merged.pdf).

The idea that the Tessera is an essential requirement for purchase of a season ticket is also a difficult legal question since a) it’s an adminstrative circular from the ministry which does not have the force of a law (ie it’s not been through parliament) and b) the document which links the Tessera to season tickets is one primarily aimed at local police, apparently. Most clubs have adopted the Tessera for new season tickets but some (like Genoa & Samp) are offering their season ticket holders a way to get round the problem.

As to the idea that this doesn’t affect ordinary matchgoing fans, or “Joe Soap” in your words, I’m not so sure about that. Many fans of all backgrounds and types are opposed to the violation of fundamental civil liberties which are entailed in the Tessera and though ultras have been the most vocal campaigners they are by no means alone. Look at the comments from Pietro Lo Monaco or Zamparini (or Fabrizio Miccoli and Daniele De Rossi, for that matter) to see that plenty of people within Serie A also oppose the tessera. Also, do non-ultras never want to go to away games? that seems pretty unlikely to me.

To my lasting regret no-one has ever asked me to ghost-write anything for them but if they do, I’ll be sure to let you know.

Ms Wilcox should either research her articles better, or refuse to ghost write them for her friends in, say, AS Roma Ultras.