AC Milan football player Marco Borriello has accused Italian writer Roberto Saviano of making money out of giving Naples a bad name.
Saviano wrote the book “Gomorrah”, since becoming a world famous film, and is a particularly controversial figure in Italian intellectual and political circles at the moment.
Borriello himself grew up in Naples and knows what it means to pay the price of the Camorra: his father was killed by the organised crime group when Borriello was just 11 years old.
In an interview with GQ magazine, Borriello said:“Roberto Saviano has made money off my city.
There was no need to write a book to know what the Camorra is.
He has only said bad things and has forgotten the rest.
”Within 24 hours of that interview being published, though, Borriello had changed his tune slightly, explaining that as a local Napoletan, he was tired of hearing his city constantly criticised:I regret how I expressed myself regarding Roberto Saviano and his investigative journalism work.
Expressing myself impulsively may have resulted in bad interpretations of my thoughts.
As a Napoletan who lives away from his city, I’m tired of hearing Naples and its citizens always talked about in the usual terms of crime, corruption and the Camorra.
Reflecting, I’ve realised the problem is bigger than me and that some arguments need to be treated with more caution and attention.
I would like to give my support to Saviano and those who live daily with this difficult reality.
Borriello’s comments will still be unpopular with the country’s intellectual elite, but they certainly express how many Napoletans feel about the image often portrayed of their city.
Borriello himself hardly has pleasant memories of growing up in a tough city, without a father, but he’s smart enough to know that the Gomorra book and film will have done Naples no favours in the eyes of the world.
In the meantime, the rest of the interview was about showgirls (Borriello is the ex-boyfriend of Belen Rodriguez) and homosexuals in Italian football.
While the Azzurri Italian football team prepares for the World Cup without the young talent of Borriello, he will probably enjoy a nice summer break somewhere before the season with AC Milan kicks off again; and we can only wish him luck and likely envy him his summer destination!