Frankfurt fans banned from traveling to Naples, controversy breaks out – Corriere.it

More than a risk (calculable) it was a certainty (inevitable). The extreme fringes of Neapolitan support were ready to unleash war in the city against the ultras of Eintracht in Frankfurt. At least this was the suspicion of the Digos investigators who had been monitoring for several days incoming flight reservations in Naples from next week. Because (almost certainly) the manhunt would have started the night before in the streets of the historic centre, as it happened in the past with Ajax, Chelsea and Liverpool fans being attacked in every part of the city, in restaurants, in bars, walking along the seafront, in front of the hotels. And it would certainly have continued before the Champions League match and continued after the match as well. It’s called revenge for what happened in Frankfurt on February 21 in the first leg. Thirty-five Frankfurt ultras stopped, minivans of Napoli ultras damaged. Intimidating banners and stickers in the center of the German city and areas off limits to Neapolitans. And according to the latest information, it was there on the table of the Viminale executives the
the risk that at least 1,600 German ultras could have arrived in Naples without a ticket, but with the intention of causing damage, as was the case in Rome in the match against Lazio in December 2018.

The reaction

But the ministry’s decision to block the trip to Maradona for Eintracht fans on Tuesday 15 March, risks becoming a diplomatic case. And if UEFA and the German club have tried until the end to convince the Italian authorities to change their decision, the Ministry of the Interior not willing to go back. Eintracht has been informed by UEFA that the Italian interior ministry will issue an injunction to Napoli, banning the club from selling tickets to Eintracht fans. The return of the round of 16 of the Champions League is therefore prohibited. And the German club is furious: it invokes the principle of reciprocity, the same one that forced Glasgow Rangers fans not to leave for Naples due to the ban on going to Scotland during the days of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral. Philipp Reschke, legal adviser of the club, at Bild he explained: Not right but we can’t do anything. This is the only event in European football to suffer such a measure and a sad day.

The alliances – The risks

And the reaction was not long in coming even in Germany. Bayern Munich fans, yesterday during the match against PSG, they displayed an offensive banner against the minister. And there’s a reason. And it concerns the international pacts between extreme fringes of supporters. Bayern fans are close to those of Frankfurt and bitter enemies of those of Borussia Dortmund and especially of Munich 1860, the other home team. The two German teams are instead twinned with the Napoli fans. A plot involving Atalanta, twinned with Frankfurt, who made their presence felt in Germany in the first leg of the Champions League. Atalanta scarves in the corneroffensive stickers and writings in Italian in the main squares of the city. Atalanta who, ironically, will play at Maradona against Spalletti’s team on Saturday 11 March. And in terms of public order, it won’t be a walk in the park for policemen and carabinieri called to ensure safety.