Sport inside
Italian authorities have banned visiting fans from attending the Champions League game between Lazio Rome and Feyenoord Rotterdam. UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin announced that in such cases games would be postponed in the future. The approach also raises questions for the 2032 European Championship.
“A Feyenoord delegation that traveled to Italy was told this week that fans were not welcome in Rome.”wrote Feyenoord about the second leg of the Champions League group stage at Lazio Rome, which is scheduled to take place on November 7th.
In its report, the Dutch club cited a decision by the Italian Interior Ministry, which has not yet commented publicly on the matter. The design of the ban is still unclear.
Fan alliance criticized: EM awarding difficult to understand in view of such measures
The fan alliance Football Supporters Europe (FSE) also criticized the authorities’ actions with a view to awarding the 2032 European Championship to Italy, which will host the tournament together with Turkey. “We find it difficult to understand how Italy can, on the one hand, compete for Europe’s biggest tournament and, on the other hand, be unable (or unwilling) to regularly host away fans.”FSE said.
The exclusion of visiting fans by authorities was an issue several times in the 2022/23 season. Eintracht Frankfurt fans were not allowed to attend their club’s Champions League game against SSC Napoli in March. It wasn’t the solution to the problem: there were riots in the city between Naples supporters and fans traveling from Frankfurt, most of whom had long since booked flights and hotel accommodations.
FSE suggests such a danger for Rome. “Feyenoord fans who have already booked will travel next week regardless of the away ban to enjoy the atmosphere and be close to their team. The most effective security measure is clearly to reverse the decision and have an away block for fans to provide.”
Ceferin: “We have to say: If something like that happens, we won’t play there”
The ban against Frankfurt fans in Naples by local authorities was the first of its kind. “This situation is intolerable and we must urgently do something about it because the authorities’ decision is absolutely not correct.”, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said on ZDF at the time. “We have to say: If something like that happens, we won’t play there. Quite simply: we will change the rules.” However, the rules have not changed since then.
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin
When asked by Sport inside, UEFA said that it had taken note of the decision from the authorities in the Netherlands, but there was no confirmation of the decision from Italy yet. Otherwise: “We cannot comment further or provide further information on this matter.” In principle, the guest clubs are each entitled to five percent of the tickets for a UEFA European Cup game. However, national law takes precedence over the association statutes, so bans are possible.
Frankfurt, Basel, Feyenoord: Guest fans were excluded several times in 2022/23
Philipp Reschke, board member of Eintracht Frankfurt, said in March about the exclusion of Frankfurt fans on Hessischer Rundfunk: “Pandora’s box may have been opened here. We hope it doesn’t spread.” But that’s exactly what happened: In April 2023, the French authorities banned FC Basel fans from attending the second leg of the quarter-finals of the Conference League at OGC Nice. The authorities justified their actions with concerns about violence and also pointed to the riots between fans of Nice and 1. FC Cologne in 2022.
In the same month – as in the current case – Italian authorities banned Feyenoord fans from attending a Europa League game at AS Roma. Feyenoord fans rioted in Italy’s capital in 2015 and damaged the famous Barcaccia fountain. After the ban, UEFA banned AS Roma fans from attending the game in Rotterdam.
No Lazio fans at Feyenoord either
Conversely, Feyenoord, citing consultation with the Dutch authorities, announced a similar approach for the first leg in Rotterdam on October 25th – no Lazio fans will be allowed into the stadium.”De Kuip“. The club and the Dutch authorities cite safety reasons and equal sporting conditions as reasons.
“These decisions are a continuation of a more than worrying trend of regularly excluding fans from European games”writes FSE. “We remind the Italian and Dutch authorities of their duty to protect the fundamental rights of fans. This must stop – now.”