Napoli Supporters Will Never, Ever See an Away Game Again
By: Martha | October 12th, 2007
Since the crowd trouble during their home match against Livorno on September 23, Napoli supporters have been forbidden to do pretty much anything. The club’s next home game after the Livorno match (against Genoa) was played behind closed doors, and away fans were banned from last weekend’s loss to Inter.
And it gets worse: Today, news has come down from the powers that be of another travel ban. Because next weekend’s clash with Roma has been labeled a high-risk match, the game has been moved forward to the afternoon, and there won’t be any Napoli fans at the Olympico. Man alive. At this point, it’s hard to know when Napoli will next play in front of a crowd that contains any of their supporters — after the Roma trip, they host Juve and, given the trouble at the Turin derby, any meeting of those two groups of fans is likely to be high on the radar of public safety authorities; surely at the very least away fans will be banned.
In addition to the Roma-Napoli match, the Livorno-Lazio and Genoa-Juventus meetings are also considered high-risk, but so far all that’s being done to regulate supporters is that bulk ticket sales are forbidden. As far as Inter supporters are concerned, meanwhile, no decision has yet come down regarding their behavior during the Napoli match last weekend, but that doesn’t mean they’re going to skate — the banners and chants are still being investigated, and some sort of travel ban seems likely, given how the authorities have handled Napoli so far.
This is progress, right? The constant investigations and punishments? Of course, no one really seems to be changing their behavior as a result of the enforcement — if that starts to happen come spring, I think we can safely say the new rules are making a difference. Right now, apart from feeling like I need a tag for “crowd trouble,” not much seems to have changed.
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Comments
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The funny (funny? odd? shameful!) thing is that despite the visitors supporting section at the San Siro being empty, Napoli still had anywhere between 5k to 8k supporters at the match (depending on who you believe). Presumably, most of the tifosi were from Milan. I believe you needed to be a resident of Milan to purchase tickets for the Napoli-Inter match.
The behavior of Napoli fans will never be confused with the prawn sandwich crowd. However, Napoli are being treated unfairly. The home match ban was because a yogurt bottle (a freaking yogurt bottle?) hit a linesman on the knee and because of some offensive banners which were quickly removed picking on Livorno and Verona. I mean really, if you can’t make fun of Verona what is a Napoletano to do? By the same token, Inter fans also unfurled some offensive banners at the Napoli match saying such things as “Naples, welcome to Italy” and “Napoli is a disease.” Additionally they also did the predictable monkey chants whenever Marcelo Zalayeta touched the ball (according to press reports). To my knowledge, Inter hasn’t even been fined for this behavior.
I am firmly in the camp of cleaning up fan behavior. It’s a joke and needs to be dealt with…on the road to doing it though, let’s at least have the semblance of equitable justice.
FORZA NAPOLI!
Posted from
United States
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Right on, Napoli is so getting screwed with all of these sanxtions. 50 arrested at the Turin derby no sanctions for either team, offensive banners at the Inter Napoli match and the league is simply dragging their feet. after waiting so long to be back in the Serie A, and sticking with their beloved azzuri, Napoli supporters deserve more than this. After all us supporters in Canada have only been able to watch one Napoli game on TV so far this year. At least let those fortunate enough to be close to the games to attend.
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United States -
The new rules are definitely starting to make a difference, and the away ban to Napoli supporters isn’t an isolated case. If you recall, the Milan fans were denied the Genoa-Milan game early this season, while Fiorentina-Juve last week was played without Bianconeri supporters.
For anyone interested, I wrote a piece on Italian Hooliganism just yesterday. You can find it on Soccerlens.com here.
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United States -
Mario, I’m not saying Napoli supporters aren’t getting screwed (But a yogurt bottle?! Seriously.), but as Marco pointed out, Juve fans weren’t allowed to travel to last weekend’s match in Florence, so they certainly didn’t get off scott-free. And I’m sure something’s coming against Inter — you know I love them, but it would be a complete outrage if their actions were ignored, since they’re basically the same as those of the Napoli supporters, save for the yogurt bottle. (The Milan thing was for the first match of the season and was based on concerns about clashes, rather than on any behavior earlier in the season.)
And the TV thing isn’t the fault of the supporters, ownership won’t sell the rights! From what I can tell, the goals in the home matches can’t even be shown on RAI on Sunday mornings — that’s some hardcore bargaining right there.
Posted from
Germany -
Yay! At least one place where we Americans are actually MORE civilized than our European counterparts.
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United States -
Joe, Napoli have one of the most violent fans in Italy and police is tired of fighting fans every week. And authorities are tired by the damage that those incidents cause. So the decision is justified pretty much.
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United States -
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chris, I think by pointing out an exception to the rule you make my point. You can’t realistically say that based on one incident, American fans are ANYWHERE near as violent or disruptive on a regular basis as European football fans. For me, it’s like citing an article about a murder in a quiet suburb that hasn’t seen a crime in 30 years to say that the suburban neighborhood must be as bad as, say, Camden, NJ.
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United States -
And apparently my point has been reinforced in triplicate… Sorry about that, FireFox has SUCKED for me lately.
Posted from
United States -
It was a joke, but including the players into the equation does sort of up the ante, doesn’t it?
Obviously European supporters can be a tad overzealous.
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United States -
As far as Napoli fans go, if it would help curb violence in football, I have no issues with Roma fans being banned from the game. This issue transcends club lines and fandoms.
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United States -
Oh man, I hate when sarcasm doesn’t translate into digital and binary… I think Cantona beat Ron Artest to the “kick” so to speak?
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United States -
Arian….with all due respect: get bent.
No one is claiming Napoli supporters are angels (reading comprehension is a skill), all that is being posited here is that Lega Calcio should take their new tough standards, which I completely support needs to not be so one sided. Don’t give that “it’s justified” garbage. It’s justified if and only if it’s applied evenly….otherwise it’s vindictative and only adds to everyone’s collective frustration. Which of course begets more violence and fan unrest.
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United States -
I knew Cantona would come up. I don’t think kung-fu kicking one dude in the chest equates to starting a massive melee between fans and players on and around the playing surface.
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United States -
@ Joe..
I agree there could be more violence by those decisions. But it’s kinda hard to imagine English method in Italian stadiums. Nobody will accept it. The only preventative measure from violence now is for life bans. Ban a couple of bad boys for life and you’ll see how the others will settle. And after those changes, the English method will be easy to implement in Italy. Now, no matter the police or stewards appear in the stands, it would be a hell for them and they won’t be able to calm them down. Because in the stands in Italy, Ultras rule. So life bans are the only helping measure at the moment.
Posted from
United States
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