Parachutist Claims He Didn’t Know He Was Landing Right in the Middle of a Soccer Game
Incoming!
Elisabetta Baracchi/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Mapei Stadium, home of Italian soccer team Sassuolo, was built with an extremely unusual feature to make sure fans can’t get out on the field. Ringing the entire pitch is a water-filled moat deep enough that you can catch fish in it.
The defenses are impenetrable. But what if the invader comes not from the stands but from above?
Sunday’s game between Sassuolo and Inter Milan was delayed briefly because a man wearing a parachute glided down onto the field right as Romelu Lukaku prepared to take a penalty for Inter. The man was whisked off the field by security and the game was able to continue.
Now we know a little bit more about the man and why he decided to land in a stadium full of more than 20,000 people.
Italy’s ANSA news agency reported Tuesday that the man is a 36-year-old from Milan who took off from a nearby airport wearing a wingsuit. Police have begun pursuing charges against the man for violating Italy’s law against creating danger at sporting events.
The man claims he experienced a minor problem while in the air and had no idea the patch of green he saw below him was a full stadium hosting a game in the nation’s highest soccer league.
I’m no expert on jumping out of plans but I don’t think I believe him. The stadium is on the outskirts of town and surrounded by areas of farmland far bigger than the 23,000-square-foot soccer field.
He went right to the showers but didn’t even work up a sweat
A goalkeeper in Turkey set a record for the fastest red card in league history on Monday when he caught the ball outside the box for no reason whatsoever. Thirteen seconds is all it took. If I didn’t know better I’d say he was trying to get sent off.
The best of SI
The Nationals were able to beat the Astros in Game 1 because 20-year-old Juan Soto solved the riddle of baseball’s most dominant pitcher. ... How MLB could punish Brandon Taubman and the Astros for his clubhouse outburst. ... The Lakers-Clippers rivalry is alive and well after opening night.
Around the sports world
Oklahoma’s “Sooner Schooner” is out of commission for the rest of the season after crashing last weekend. ... A Michigan college student is going to be the bloomin’ onion mascot at the Outback Bowl after tweeting incessantly at Outback Steakhouse. ... An MMA fighter in Russia who gave himself freakish Popeye-like biceps with sketchy drug injections lost a fight in embarrassing fashion.
Looks like they’re back to using the juiced ball in the World Series
Shaq isn’t afraid to support Morey
Drake got a championship ring
The Raptors’ cooler superfan got one too
Is that Black Panther or Ant Man?
Always let the gator play through
Kawhi is a Terminator
Not sports
Tourists are flocking to the set of stairs in the Bronx from Joker and locals are not happy. ... Scientists are shocked by a species of monkey in Malaysia that eats rats. ... An England man lost the wedding ring his wife hand-made while swimming in the ocean but it was found thanks to a fish. ... America is sitting on a stockpile of 40 million pounds of bacon.
Just looking at this makes my palms sweat
Down goes Barney!
A good song
Email dan.gartland@simail.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.
