Shortly before Eintracht Frankfurt's explosive Champions League game at SSC Naples, the dispute over the admission of guest fans enters the next round.
Just one day after the fan ban was lifted, the Prefecture of Naples issued another sales ban for some of the Hessians' supporters before the round of 16 second leg. The order is directed against all residents of the city of Frankfurt. The authorities want to continue to prevent fans of the Bundesliga soccer team from traveling to Naples for the game against the Serie A leaders.
After the first ban: urgent application initially granted
The competent administrative court in the Campania region had previously granted an urgent application by the Hessians to issue an injunction against the ban issued by the Naples Prefecture on selling tickets to people residing in Germany. The court justified its decision with the fact that the general exclusion of all fans from Germany was disproportionate. The prefect Claudio Palomba reacted to this with a new decree, which is only explicitly aimed at fans who live in Frankfurt.
The city wants to avoid "risks to the protection of order and public safety" that could possibly threaten when Frankfurt fans travel to southern Italy. The prefecture referred to incidents surrounding the first leg in Naples as justification. On the edge of Eintracht's 2-0 defeat, there were physical attacks on Italian fans in Frankfurt. Nine people were briefly taken into custody.
After an injunction by the Europa League winner from Frankfurt had previously been granted, club officials were still celebrating. "This is of course a great satisfaction, a milestone, which was also unexpected for our Italian lawyers," Eintracht board member Philipp Reschke commented on the surprising turnaround in the unprecedented case.
Naples worried about riots
The mood at SSC Napoli was completely different after the court's ruling. The club said it was "deeply concerned about the decision to allow German fans access to the game."
The club justified its concerns with "the concrete possibility that there could be riots, as determined by the Analysis Committee for Sports Events of the Ministry of the Interior". The administrative court must "take responsibility for possible incidents," the statement said.
The 5th Chamber of the Administrative Court ruled that Naples was "stopped until further notice to make the guest ticket contingent available to Eintracht Frankfurt for a total of 2700 tickets".
Outcome uncertain
"It is of course our wish that our fans can travel to Naples. That is always an incredible support. That's why we are happy about this decision. It's a nice thing," said Frankfurt's sporting director Markus Krösche after the meager 1-1 (0 :0) of Hesse during the dress rehearsal in the Bundesliga home game against VfB Stuttgart about the court's decision. "But we have to wait for the next few days." Shortly thereafter, there should be a new state of affairs.
Reasonable planning is almost impossible with all this back and forth. "We have to reorganize everything that we and many others have had to cancel in the past few days, from ticket orders to travel and transport organization and much more," said Reschke.
Eintracht coach Oliver Glasner commented on the unique event with a dash of gallows humor. "Maybe there will be another decree on Monday and a new one on Tuesday," said the 48-year-old football teacher, adding: "I hope we can enter the country." The latest development followed on Sunday evening.
