There were heated arguments around Eintracht’s Champions League game at SSC Napoli in mid-March. Now an Italian judge has handed down a harsh sentence against two Frankfurt fans.
In mid-March, Eintracht experienced a double blow in Naples: before the second leg of the round of 16, hundreds of Frankfurt fans fought violent street battles with the police and Napoli supporters. It was possible later too lost the game 0-3 – the Hessians were eliminated from the Champions League.
A Neapolitan court subsequently dealt with the riots and on Wednesday sentenced two Eintracht fans to five years and two months in prison for causing destruction and seriously resisting the police. The judgments are not yet final.
Despite the ban: hundreds of Eintracht fans in Naples
If the Italian authorities had had their way, the clashes in the port city would never have occurred. Before the round of 16 game in Naples on March 15th, they announced a ban on ticket sales to people living in Frankfurt. This approach was a novelty in European football.
Hundreds of Frankfurters still traveled there. Violent riots, destroyed bars and a burning police car were the result. Around 800 officers are said to have been on duty during the riots.
Eintracht condemns violence
Shortly thereafter Eintracht Frankfurt board member Philipp Reschke took a stand: “We deeply regret the incidents that took place here. There is absolutely nothing that can justify this violence. We may all have feared it, but it is and remains unacceptable,” said Reschke before the team began their journey home.
The lawyers of the two convicted Frankfurt supporters announced that they would like to appeal the verdict. They made it clear in court from the start that their clients were present during the riots in the central Piazza del Gesù, but did not take part in the clashes, the state television station Rai quoted the legal team as saying.
In mid-May, another Eintracht fan was sentenced to ten months in prison on probation.
