Score one for the extraordinarily thin-skinned. A judge in Naples, Italy recently awarded 1500 Euro to a fan of the Napoli Football Club for "existential damages" he incurred while attending a match against Inter Milan. The cause of the damages? Banners. But not just any banners. Banners that made light of Naples' ongoing garbage crisis, which has left tonnes of debris rotting on its streets and thousands of raccoons furiously swimming the Atlantic in search of this mythical utopia. Even worse, the banners were apparently designed by know-it-all pre-med students:
Provocative abuse was displayed on other banners at the match, which Inter won 2-1, including “Ciao cholera sufferers!” and “Neapolitans have tuberculosis”. Inter fans also sang offensive chants.
Now before we all rush to judgment and blame lawyers for furthering our global pussification, put yourself in this fan's shoes. What if your city was going through a terrible crisis, and some ignorant moron displayed a sign that made light of it in an unfathomably tasteless manner? Granted, we are talking about soccer fans here, so it's tough to imagine that happening on this side of the pond, but...
Oh. New Orleans fans, get thee to an ambulance chaser. Weird Cases: Existential Damage [Tiimes Online]