Beating Napoli supporters: Eruption in Curva B – Sport

Since they have been waiting in Naples for 33 years for the apotheosis, the football at least, the third championship title in the history of their Società Sportiva Calcio, the first in the time after and without Diego Armando Maradona. And now that the longing is slowly but very, very likely to be fulfilled and some even overcome their superstition and paint streets, stairs and house walls azure blue, yes, precisely in this phase of anticipation before the big festival, the organized supporters of Napoli are sinking the curves happiness in chaos. The police are worried, the public prosecutor’s office is investigating.

The “Paradox of Naples” is discussed in the Italian newspapers. The Gazzetta dello Sport headlines somewhat aghast: “Napoli – is there a festival taking place here?” In addition, the pictures of wild fights among ultras in the Curva B of the Stadio Maradona last Sunday evening. The newspaper even called on the actor Salvatore Esposito, “Genny” from the TV series “Gomorrah”, to emotionally capture this moment.

“What happened hurts me more than losing to Milan,” he said. And that defeat, a memorable 0:4 against the current champions and opponents in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, held potential for great pain in itself.

But now to the scene in the Curva B. The curve was seething even before the game. Once again, the Ultras of Napoli had to leave their equipment at home: their banners, flags, megaphones, drums. Or better yet, they might have been allowed to take them with them if they had been willing to apply for permission in advance. The football association and the police have been demanding this since a series of riots, and the club supports the measure. But the Ultras are too stupid, they think the rule is pure harassment. And so it came back to the bizarre situation that the fans who had arrived were allowed to make a hell of a racket with their instruments, while the curves of the Neapolitans remained flagless and megaphone-free.

Romans, rescuers, stimulus figure: film producer Aurelio De Laurentiis, owner and president of the association.

(Photo: Peter Cziborra/Action Images via Reuters)

No sooner had the game started than a group of fans in Curva B chanted curses at Aurelio De Laurentiis, the club’s owner and president. There were pretty crude swear words with no sense of rhyme. The Roman film producer, 73 years old, has never been good with the fans, not since the beginning. De Laurentiis took over the club in its darkest hour, in 2004, just after it had gone bankrupt and been relegated to Serie C, Italy’s third division. In a few years he managed to lead the club back up. In the eyes of many fans, however, he remained “il Romano”, the outsider from the unloved capital: always a bit snooty, sometimes insensitive. He appointed his entire family, wife and children to the Board of Directors. He did not have an association seat in Naples, there is not even an office in the city.

What counts is the business, the numbers are what De Laurentiis stands for. He increased the ticket and subscription prices significantly over the years and did not abandon his policy when dissatisfaction grew. The prices for the Champions League are now so high that many Neapolitans can no longer afford them. De Laurentiis removed the privileges of the Ultras, who had become accustomed to preferential treatment, such as tickets and travel to away games. When they misbehave, which is quite common, he addresses the issue very bluntly.

Hashtag #A16: They wish De Laurentiis to go to Bari, where he also owns the city club

So Napoli was never an idyll. Then, when De Laurentiis sold a number of prominent players and replaced them with less prominent ones last summer, his opposition in the city definitely felt bolstered. And launched the hashtag #A16. A 16, that’s the name of the motorway from Naples to Bari. Bari from Serie B also belongs to De Laurentiis. likes him Presidente also be an Italian, which is increasingly becoming a rarity in Calcio, and he may have rehabilitated Napoli in sporting terms: “ADL”, his acronym, remained unsympathetic to many, even suspect – he should move to Bari. What they couldn’t count on: The saved team almost always plays spectacular and effective football, in Italy and in Europe. In Serie A, Napoli lead the table after 28 matchdays with a 16-point lead over Lazio.

One might think that in the long run any opposition would collapse. But there they were again in Curva B and singing against the President, of all things in a crucial game. Some of the ultras, however, were against it, as they had agreed on a silent protest. And so the hard fans beat each other so hard that the rest of the stadium watched in disbelief and then whistled at their own Ultras. After that you could almost only hear the guest sector. The defeat in the defeat, the pain in the pain.

The investigators are now studying the video recordings from the stadium in order to understand the dynamics in detail. Some people have been identified and banned from the stadium. One fears the next games, in and around the stadium. One is even worried about what could become of the festival, even if it is mathematically secured. The club apparently wants to charge admission for the main celebration on the Piazza del Plebiscito, Naples’ living room. That would of course be very insensitive again, close to provocation. But the city is big, every piazza is a stage, every alley is a corso – and no heart is a prison.

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