16 March 2023 , 13:57
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The Napoli owner has called on the Italian Prime Minister to show “the courage” of Margaret Thatcher to stamp out hooliganism after claiming there was “guerrilla warfare” last night in the southern Italian city.
And the mayor of Naples admitted: “For a few hours the city was held hostage by German and Neapolitan thugs.”
Eintracht Frankfurt fans were banned for the second leg at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, but hundreds still travelled to Naples to join up with Atalanta Ultras. And they clashed with Napoli supporters in running battles in Naples, just eight days before England play a Euro 2024 qualifier in the city. Eight people have so far been arrested – five Italian and three German.
In a press conference in Naples on Thursday after Napoli's 3-0 win saw them go through 5-0 on aggregate, Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis said: “Families must go to the stadium, not those who want to deal or smoke marijuana.
"Probably these people who shouted 'We are Naples' were outside the stadium yesterday, chasing the Germans in the city or doing guerrilla warfare with the police. Yesterday [the] Maradona was an English stadium.
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“Now politics must face the problem and I hope that [Prime Minister Giorgia] Meloni will do like the only prime minister who has had the courage: the English one, Margaret Thatcher.
Italian police had to try and cope with hundreds of fans without tickets (Salvatore Laporta/Getty Images)“UEFA? It represents itself. Just think of what happened in Paris for the Champions League final. Even [European Commission President] Ursula Von der Leyen has to ask herself the problem. Because in Europe there are tens of millions of fans who must be respected and protected, compared to a violent fringe."
Conservative PM Thatcher sought to crack down on hooliganism in the English game in the 1980s and planned to make ID cards for fans compulsory and limit the attendance of away supporters.
Naples mayor Gaetano Manfredi added: “It cannot be denied that for a few hours the city was held hostage by German and also Neapolitan thugs. Stopping ticket sales is not enough. There are sister groups that travel around Europe just to do violence, with a military strategy.
Police were called to quell violence between Napoli and Frankfurt fans (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)“The management of public order at the international level must change. At a central, European level. This is why the declarations of [Aleksander] Ceferin, president of UEFA, are unacceptable. As if the problem were only in Naples. The violence must be eliminated, whatever nationality they have or team they support. We will ask for damages, for our vehicles, for the traders after what happened.”
Naples prefect Claudio Palomba said extra security will be in place for the Italy-England match on Thursday: “We have chosen additional spaces in the port area to concentrate the English fans there. But I'm talking about normal situations, not about what happened on Wednesday."
De Laurentiis added: “I hope that the Neapolitans, also given the affordable prices, will go in numbers to support the national team at the Maradona in an important match against England. Let it be another football party.”