Napoli is having its best season since the golden age of Diego Armando Maradona but, incredibly it seems, it is going through a delicate institutional situation because of on the tense relationship between the ultras and Aurelio De Laurenttis, president of the club.
Luciano Spalletti and its players are one step away from winning Napoli’s first ‘scudetto’ since 1990 and the third in its history after achieving two together with Maradona. They also reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time and, despite Wednesday’s defeat against Milan (1-0), they hope to bounce back on Tuesday and reach the semifinals.
An enviable sporting situation that does not hold back the ultras harshly criticize the management of De Laurentiis. On April 2, the most radical fans appeared in front of the Diego Armando Maradona stadium, before the league match lost against AC Milan (0-4), to protest, among other things, the price of tickets but also the restrictions on banners.
during the meeting some followers stopped cheering and there were some fights in the stands with other Napoli fans.
Spalletti threatened on Wednesday to resign
An “absurd” attitude, according to coach Luciano Spalletti, who on Wednesday, after Europe’s defeat against Milan, threatened to resign if the ultras continue to “hold the team hostage” on Tuesday in the second leg of the Champions League.
Another episode of conflict
These incidents are another episode in the conflict between a sector of fans and De Laurentiis despite the fact that the film producer, after being declared bankrupt, re-established the club in 2004 and, in less than 20 years, he took him from the third division to Serie A and now to the ‘scudetto’.
“Culturally, De Laurentiis was always an outsider in Naples. He was never well regarded, neither by the die-hard fans nor by a large part of the city,” he explained. Massimiliano Gallowho runs the Il Napolista fan website, at Agence France Press.
“In Naples there was a kind of religion that wanted the city to be a god to be revered. De Laurentiis slapped the Neapolitans by seizing their property to make money,” Gallo sums up. about the abusive prices of the towns.
Signing success
“This scudetto is completely different from the ones won with Maradona. It has become more ‘Milanese’, the result of planning. The club has given Milan and Turin a lesson in management,” continued Gallo, praising De Laurentiis for signing players like the Georgian winger Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, a great sensation of the season, or the South Korean center-back Kim Min-jae, another stranger who became a key player in the imminent ‘scudetto’.
Very high price for Naples-Milan on Tuesday
Instead, De Laurentiis’ business strategy earned him the nickname ‘the pimp’. Fans are clamoring for the price of tickets: 90 euros was the cheapest for Naples-Milan on Tuesday.
“De Laurentiis says he wants to bring families to the matches, but he doesn’t offer any discounts,” he laments. Emilio Coppola, Napoli fan and lawyer working on fan relations issues. “It’s like he wants to choose viewers based on their financial status.”
A tension that comes from afar
Coppola said the “climate of tension” began in 2019, when fans were fined for not sitting in their assigned seats.
“The way the owner watches football is just the opposite of the people who watch the games in the stands. We are the only customers who are never right,” Coppola protested. “He calls the club ‘the family toy’. This can be said about a hotel, but Napoli is the passion of the fans.”
Coppola warned that Napoli “historically is not a prosperous club. If it goes down to Serie B or has a bad championship, the team can be completely abandoned because, if the most unconditional fans are alienated, the risk ends up with a fan base only interested in results.
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.
