A Napoli Bis threatens Roma-Feyenoord

Apparently the shameful events in Naples were not enough. Another stupidity has been added to the Napoli-Eintracht prelude: that of Roma-Feyenoord. Driven by the images of the events in Naples – could one really count on stopping the German ultras and forcing them to watch the game at the hotel? – Minister Piantedosi and the Prefect of Rome have opted for it Exclude Feyenoord fans from away games in the Europa League.

State Police Chief Lamberto Giannini stated: “We’ll see what happens in the first leg (the first leg will be played in the Netherlands), but the Dutch tickets are not sold here.” And then – ironically – to add: “however, the ability to move freely remains“. Is it really that difficult to come up with a security plan that allows Dutch fans to be taken to the away sector under guard and brought back to the hotel at the end of the game? Why do we want to create the conditions to reproduce the images we saw in Naples but with the background of Rome?

The Dutch answer

Apparently, Holland has not stood idly by: when Dutch fans are prevented from entering the Olimpico, the same will happen in Holland with the Roma fans. And it doesn’t matter if there are a lot of normal fans who just want to follow their team in Europe between a few troublemakers (like with all fans in this world): Ban is the motto. randomly.

Then not only the fans lose, but also the dealers and the entire tourism industry: because banning a trip means removing a hundred or more people from pubs; canceled hotels and non-refunded flights. Tourism also works with football, but some politicians may not have noticed that.

Euro2028: Big laughs!

True, in Rome the images of the Dutch fans damaging Bernini’s Barcaccia during the 2015 Europa League match between Rome and Feyenoord are still fresh. Yes, even the Dutch government would consider closing the access of home fans to De Kuip until the end of the season after the events in the cup against Ajax. But in a normal country those responsible for this gesture should be banned from entering Italy, not all Dutch fans. Moreover, UEFA has already pointed the finger at this decision with a rather harsh and direct statement: “The club and the municipality of Rotterdam are committed to welcoming guests away from home and making it a good football party. For a long time, having at least a small number of 1,200 away fans seemed like a feasible scenario.” But

“In the end, the Italian authorities decided otherwise, Feyenoord fans are not welcome in Rome. UEFA announced today that no Italian fans will be allowed to come to Rotterdam.”.

That from UEFA is clearly malice, but then what can we expect when they point us to the moon and we look at the finger? The reference is evident to Euro2028who is trying to reach Italy. But if we are not able to manage 400 Germans and as many Dutch people, how can we think of managing fans from all over the world at the same time?