Even after Eintracht Frankfurt was eliminated from the Champions League, it was not quiet in Naples at night: Italian supporters tried to get into the Hessian team hotel. They set off firecrackers and threw stones.
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Eintracht board member Reschke: “It can’t go on like this”
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In Naples, hooligans clashed again with the police during the night. As reported by Italian media, supporters of SSC Napoli tried to get to Eintracht Frankfurt’s team hotel. Many fans of the Hessians had also stayed in the hotel right next door and, according to the Ansa news agency, were getting ready at this point to be taken out of the city by bus.
The Napoli ultras lit firecrackers and threw stones at the emergency services. The police were at the hotel in large numbers. According to Ansa, the violent football fans were taken to Naples airport, Salerno and Rome by bus and police protection during the night and early morning.
Eight fans have now been arrested after the riots, three of them Eintracht supporters. This emerges from a balance sheet by Naples police chief Alessandro Giuliano. Accordingly, six police officers were injured in the riots. 470 Eintracht fans were brought to the police headquarters for identification. 120 of them have now left Italy. According to the police, another 350 German fans are still in the office in Salerno. The investigation is proceeding swiftly.
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First incidents before Eintracht game in Naples
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Glasner and Krösche condemn riots
Before the round of 16 second leg of the Champions League between Napoli and Eintracht (3-0), there had been violent riots by both fan groups in the city center on Wednesday. Italian media reported martial “guerrilla” fights in the streets and alleyways of the city.
“Of course we noticed. It’s not a thing that belongs here. We can’t approve of that,” Frankfurt’s sports director Markus Krösche criticized the incidents, which formed an unworthy framework for the end of Hesse’s first Champions League season. “I condemn all forms of violence and crime, no matter where and when it happens in the world, so I don’t approve of it,” added Eintracht coach Oliver Glasner.
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The Eintracht PK after the game in Naples
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Seven arrests during the night
As the Eintracht police confirmed, the situation escalated in the afternoon when Napoli fan groups attacked Frankfurt supporters and police officers in the central Piazza del Gesù. The Eintracht Ultras had previously marched through the city together, singing provocative songs against Naples.
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During the clashes, the hooligans threw stones, flares, tables and chairs at opposing fans and the police, among other things. They used tear gas. A police car was set on fire, and several outside areas of bars and restaurants were devastated.
“We deeply regret the incidents that have happened here. There is absolutely nothing to justify this violence. We may have all feared it, but it is and will remain unacceptable,” said Eintracht board member Philipp Reschke on Thursday before leaving the Team.
Far-reaching effects
The violence that erupted in street battles surrounding Wednesday night’s game had far-reaching repercussions. “It harms football, it harms Eintracht Frankfurt and it harms our efforts to stand up for the rights of all fans, who would have liked to see a football game here without repression and decrees in the stadium,” emphasized Reschke.
In Italy, there was great outrage at the events. There is strong criticism that this escalation came about, although it was known from the outset that violent supporters from Frankfurt would come to Naples despite a ticket ban. Mayor Gaetano Manfredi criticized the “crazy and unacceptable devastation” in the city.
Eintracht was also sharply criticized. “The violent fans have benefited from the legal action of the Frankfurt football club because they no longer felt alone,” quoted the Corriere dello Sport Enzo Letitzia from the National Association of the police officers. “When football institutions and clubs challenge decisions made by public safety authorities, the floodgates open to violence, clashes and the devastation of city squares and streets,” Letitzia said.
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