One of the interesting things about the Asif Kapadia film about Diego Maradona is the way it highlights the regional divides in Italian society. The hate displayed by the fans of the big Northern clubs towards Neapolitans in the 1980s was akin to an ethnic or a tribal hatred.

Indeed, Juve fans called Napoli fans ‘Africans’ in order to emphasise that they felt poorer Southerners were different from the more affluent Northerners. You can see why Neapolitans loved Maradona so much, not just bc of his skill but bc of his origins. He was one of them.

As in: he came from a Buenos Aires slum. Certain people connect with certain places in a special way. Jack Charlton with Ireland. Bill Shankley with Liverpool. Maradona with Naples is definitely an example of that. They were made for each other.

The hatred shown by the North of Italy towards the South also demonstrates that even in the absence of much racial or ethnic diversity there will always be some ppl who will find other groups to hate.

i.e 1980s was overwhelmingly white (still is) & so Neapolitans became othered in order to meet the demand for someone to hate. Which belies the fantasy that white nationalists seem to have that ‘whiteness’ could possibly serve as a means of bonding or solidarity.

The far-right are similar to the far-left in that respect. ‘Pan-Aryanism’ is a bit like ‘proletarian internationalism.’ In that it does not & will never exist except in the minds of a few misfit intellectuals & activists.