We definitely didn't have an Irish MEP sending a bizarre message to a random Serie A club on our bingo card for today, but here we are.
Mick Wallace is someone that, let's say, defies convention when it comes to being an MEP. His time in the European Parliament has been littered with rather strange incidents.
He has now added to that list.
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Irish MEP sends strange message to Serie A club
Mick Wallace was speaking at the European Parliament earlier today, sporting an outfit that you wouldn't often see from a politician in that arena. That is nothing new for the Wexford man, who does not usually show up with the expected shirt and tie for his visits to Strasbourg.
On this occasion, he was wearing a football kit from Serie A side Torino.
Not only that, but he would send an unexpected to the club ahead of their game against Juventus this weekend.
Irish MEP Nick Wallace at the European Parliament:
“Good luck to Toro on Saturday against Juventus. Juve merda, Forza Toro.”
[@cristianobosco]
pic.twitter.com/Ermq3uxqym— Italian Football News 🇮🇹 (@footitalia1) April 11, 2024
Torino and Juventus are both based in the Italian city of Turin, with the former being the much less successful of the two clubs. They are set to play a derby game on Saturday evening, with Juve having won 2-0 during their other meeting earlier in the season.
Torino are not a team that are widely supported outside of their home city, making Mick Wallace's fondness of the club somewhat strange. He has worn their jersey in both the Irish and European parliaments on occasion in the past.
Speaking to ESPN a few years ago, he explained how his love for the club stemmed from his frequent visits to Italy to watch Serie A games.
I used to go to games all over the place. I still do. I'd see more than 20 Serie A games live per season.
If I go over for the weekend I usually catch two or three games... I used to go to a fair few Juventus games then as well even though I always preferred Torino.
But there isn't a nice atmosphere in Juve anymore. I find it very right-wing. I find it stinks of money in the crowd.
Torino followers are very much the ordinary people, much more down to earth. I'm on the left-wing of politics and I always go in the Curva Maratona. I feel very much at home there. There's a lovely atmosphere. It's just different.
Fair enough.
For those interested, the Serie A fixture between Torino and Juventus will kick-off on Saturday at 5pm Irish time.
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