Soccer Fans Clash With Police in Naples Ahead of Champions League Game

Soccer fans clashed with police in the heart of Naples, Italy, on Wednesday, March 15, ahead of the local team Napoli’s Champions League clash with German side Eintracht Frankfurt.

Video footage taken by Rebecca Rinaldi shows a large group of fans dressed in black throwing flares and other missiles in the direction of riot police in a street off Naples’s Piazza del Gesu Nuovo.

In response to social media footage showing disturbances in the city, the mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi, said: “I’m monitoring what happened between our streets. An unacceptable guerrilla climate,” according to a machine translation.

Local media reported that around 600 Eintracht Frankfurt “ultras” had descended on the city center before the game. The group were said to have damaged buildings, thrown objects, and set fire to a police vehicle.

In response, police were reported to have used tear gas and attempted to keep the Frankfurt fans contained in Piazza del Gesu Nuovo, while Napoli fans gathered nearby, throwing missiles at Frankfurt fans travelling in a bus, according to local reports.

Writing on Twitter, Italy’s deputy prime minister, Matteo Salvini, said, according to a machine translation: “These are not fans, they are criminals. Who knows if in Germany they would make the same mess … Maximum solidarity and support to the police forces.”

Napoli won 3-0 on the night to advance in the competition. Credit: Rebecca Rinaldi via Storyful