IIn the dispute over the admission of German fans to the game in the soccer Champions League between SSC Naples and Eintracht Frankfurt next Wednesday (9 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Champions League and on DAZN), the club from the Bundesliga has one on Saturday achieved surprising legal success. “The competent administrative court (in Campania/red.) granted Eintracht Frankfurt’s application for a temporary injunction this Saturday afternoon,” the club said in the early afternoon.
This means that the decree of the Prefecture of Naples is “illegal”, said Frankfurt board member Philipp Reschke before the game against Stuttgart this Saturday (3.30 p.m. in the FAZ live ticker for the Bundesliga and on Sky). The club further stated: “The ban on the sale of tickets to people residing in Germany, which was imposed on SSC Napoli for the round of 16 second leg on Wednesday, was declared illegal. For the time being, the leaders of Serie A will be required to provide Eintracht Frankfurt with a total of 2,700 guest tickets.”
It is unclear whether fans can really travel to Naples. “It is nevertheless to be expected that the Prefecture of Naples will appeal against this decision of the administrative court, which will be decided on Monday or Tuesday of the coming week,” Eintracht said. That in the end 2,700 Frankfurt fans will actually be able to support their team in Italy in the stadium is anything but clear, even after Saturday’s verdict.
“So the game goes on”
Reschke classified the surprising verdict on Saturday: “This is of course a great satisfaction, a milestone, which was also unexpected for our Italian lawyers. But on the one hand we have to reorganize everything that we and many others had to cancel in the past few days, from ticket orders to travel and transport organization and much more. Secondly, everything is subject to the proviso of how an objection from the Prefecture of Naples turns out or whether a new, modified decree is issued. So the game goes on.”
The club now wants to contact all those who were originally promised a ticket from the guest contingent again at short notice. However, there are now organizational problems. Because numerous trips have been canceled. Above all, the availability of charter flights to Italy is hardly given, said Reschke on Saturday in the catacombs of the Frankfurt stadium. He also mentioned the political pressure in Italy for the further course of the case. “It’s a high profile decision. The pressure is likely to be enormous.” He said he expected the “current status quo, which is very encouraging, to change.”
The Frankfurters had only received the decree from the Italian security authorities on Thursday. Accordingly, SSC Napoli would not have been allowed to sell tickets to people residing in Germany. This measure was tantamount to a fan exclusion. The criticism of this measure, which was allegedly taken for security reasons, had caused harsh criticism. Eintracht had responded with an injunction, which was now granted at least in this instance.
The Europa League winner lost the first duel in Frankfurt almost three weeks ago with 0:2 goals. Around the game there had been some violent attacks and arrests in the area of the stadium. To prevent such riots from happening again, no tickets should be sold to away fans. If it stayed that way, it would set a precedent that could have implications for future European competitions as well. Before that happens, the people of Frankfurt are eagerly awaiting further developments in Italy.
