Murano resident reported children, aged between 12 and 13, to the police

Italy might be a football-loving country but that did not stop police in Venice from pursuing a group of unlikely targets: 14 children who fell foul for playing the game in a public square, leading to fines presented to their parents, in a move that has sparked a debate about the rights of young people to play outdoors.

The children, aged between 12 and 13, were playing football earlier this month in Pino Signoretto square in Murano, an island of about 4,500 inhabitants in the Venetian lagoon, when a resident, annoyed by the noise they were making, reported them to the police.