The Prefect of Naples this Sunday banned the sale of tickets to German fans living in Frankfurt, just three days before the second leg of the Champions League round of 16.
New script twist for next Wednesday’s crucial match with Napoli defending a 0-2 first leg win to qualify for the Champions League quarterfinals for the first time in its history.
Prohibition by the Italian Ministry of the Interior
Eintracht announced that the Italian Ministry of the Interior will ban the sale of tickets to German fans with a statement on March 7. The reason for the Italian ban lies in the conflicts that took place in the first leg.
“Eintracht Frankfurt has been informed by UEFA that the Italian Ministry of the Interior will issue a court order against the organizing club, SSC Napoli, banning the sale of tickets to Eintracht supporters for the second leg of the round of 16 of Champions”, the German club announced at the time.
“This includes the official guest quota of 2,700 tickets in total, 2,400 of them in the guest sector, for which Eintracht will be eligible under UEFA regulations,” he added in his statement on March 7 .
Eintracht’s appeal was accepted
However, Campania’s TAR (Regional Administrative Court) accepted the German club’s appeal and on Saturday overturned that ban, giving Eintracht fans a free hand to go to the Diego Armando Maradona stadium.
A decision that was not shared by Napoli, who were “concerned” by the arrival of German fans after the first-leg altercations.
“Napoli is deeply concerned by the decision to give German fans access to the next game. The concern comes from the concrete possibility of discontent that could arise, according to the Ministry’s Commission for the Analysis of Sporting Events of the Interior. The decision was taken by section V of the TAR of Campania, which is responsible for what may happen”, assured the club partenopeo.
“The decision, it is underlined, was made regardless of the technical evaluations of the bodies designated for it,” said Napoli.
The Prefecture of Naples gives its last word
Now, when everything seems to indicate that the back-and-forth decisions and exchanges of communications have ended, the Prefecture of Naples has appeared with a new ban.
“We inform you that the Prefect of Naples, Claudio Palomba, also after reviewing the issue at today’s meeting of the PCOSP, today adopted a new provision, which contains the prescription of the prohibition of the sale of coupons limited to residents of city of Frankfurt”, contacted the Italian organization.
“In view of the relevant and serious clashes that took place on the occasion of the first leg of the Champions League between Eintracht Frankfurt-Naples on February 21, 2023 and that were not limited to the Frankfurt stadium but took place in the city” he explained .
Alliance with Atalanta ultras
Despite various bans or other obstacles from various organizations, ‘ultra’ fans are expected to arrive with tickets they have obtained through third parties, some thanks to the alliance between the German team and Atalanta.
Eintracht fans are known for their massive mobilization on the occasion of their team’s European matches and Barcelona fans will never forget the ‘blasphemy’ at the Camp Nou, invaded by 30,000 German fans on April 14, 2002, Holy Thursday, with reason for the Round of 16 tie of the Europa League. Eintracht won 3-2 and qualified after a 1-1 first leg.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
