Napoli supporters are gearing up for their largest celebration in almost three decades, but a dispute between ardent fans and club owner Aurelio De Laurentiis threatens to overshadow the vibrant celebrations that have already started in Naples.
On the approach of winning their first Scudetto since the days of Diego Maradona, Napoli welcomes Verona on Saturday, but despite the city beginning to be decorated in blue and white, the atmosphere at recent home games has been absolutely poisonous.
Fighting broke out in the bleachers after Napoli fans’ 4-0 home defeat to AC Milan earlier this month when fans screamed “out, out, out” at die-hard “ultras” who chose to watch the game in almost complete quiet.
The protests of the ultras are apparently directed at being stopped from entering the stadium with drums, flags, and banners to create an atmosphere worthy of a season in which Napoli should easily win Serie for the first time since 1990.
After losing to Milan 1-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday, coach Luciano Spalletti said that he would step down if the squad’s fans continued to “hold the team hostage” during the quarterfinal’s second leg the following week.
The film magnate De Laurentiis, who was born in Rome, is distrusted despite taking over the club in 2004 when it was bankrupt and leading them up from the third tier to the verge of glory, and this new argument is simply another incident in their ideological war.
De Laurentiis has always identified as a foreigner in Naples’ culture. He has never been seen favorably, neither by the most ardent fans nor by the majority of the city as a whole, according to Massimiliano Gallo, the owner of the well-known Napoli website Il Napolista.
There is a kind of fundamentalist religion practiced in Naples, according to which the city itself is a deity that must be worshipped. However, he has insulted Neapolitans, particularly the upper classes of Neapolitan society, by stealing their business and profiting from it.
“This Scudetto is quite apart from others that Maradona won. The club has taught Milan and Turin a lesson in management, making it more Milanese as a consequence of strategy and balance sheet management.
Customers who “never make a mistake”
The cheapest tickets for Tuesday’s return leg with Milan cost 90 euros ($100), highlighting De Laurentiis’ chilly corporate philosophy—which runs against to that of the ultras.
Emilio Coppola, a Napoli supporter and attorney who focuses on supporter-related problems, claims that De Laurentiis claims he wants to encourage families to attend games but doesn’t provide any discounts for either them or young people.
I get the impression that he just wants to decide who attends matches based on their financial situation.
Coppola claims that the most recent escalation of “a climate of tension” dating back at least to 2019 when fans suddenly started being fined for not sitting in their assigned seat was brought on by a large brawl between Napoli and Roma supporters at a gas station in January. This brawl cost both sets of supporters a two-month ban from traveling to away matches.
“We’re the only customers who are never right,” he claims. “The owner’s way of seeing football is quite simply in stark contrast to that of the people who watch matches on the terraces.”
“He refers to the club as “the family plaything,” but you could also use a hotel or a restaurant as an example. Napoli, though, is about the fervor of the fans.
“Napoli isn’t historically a successful club… If Napoli were to drop to Serie B or perform poorly in the league, the team could end up being abandoned, because if those ardent supporters are driven away, you end up with a fan base that only cares about results and doesn’t support the team no matter what the situation.”
