8 arrested in Naples as Frankfurt fans leave

Admin l Thursday, March 16, 2023

FRANKFURT – Eight people, including three Germans, have been taken into custody in connection with fan violence around the Champions League match between Napoli and Eintracht Frankfurt, police chief Alessandro Giuliano said on Thursday.

Giuliano said that further arrests could follow in connection with Naples city centre riots the previous day which involved fans from both camps.

Police said that hundreds of fans had been registered around the match.

Hundreds of Frankfurt fans had come to Naples despite being barred from attending the match by a decree of the city’s prefecture in connection security concerns.

The Frankfurt fans were escorted out of Naples during the night and on Thursday morning and brought to the airport, and to Salerno and Rome before returning home, local news reports said.

Their departure had been delayed because Napoli fans had attempted to get to the hotel where the Frankfurt fans had gathered, with fighting recorded between the fan groups and with police in the area.

The main incidents took place before the game Napoli won 3-0 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.

According to Italian reports the situation escalated when Frankfurt fans marched through the city and chanted provocations towards Napoli fans who then attacked the Frankfurt contingent and police.

Giuliani said that two officers were hurt in the incidents in which attacked police with chairs and tables from bars and restaurants and with pyrotechnics. A police car was also set ablaze.