Napoli: Request for neutral venue rejected | OneFootball

UEFA rejects request to move Champions League game between SSC Napoli and Eintracht Frankfurt

As expected, UEFA has rejected a request from Eintracht Frankfurt to move their UEFA Champions League game against SSC Napoli on Matchday 4 of the league phase to a neutral venue, after Eagles fans were officially banned from attending the contest.

The game on 4 November will therefore take place as planned in Naples and without the presence of Eintracht supporters. On 22 September, the Prefect of Naples issued an order prohibiting SSC Napoli from selling the five percent ticket allocation – equating to approximately 2,500 tickets – to which the visiting club is entitled under UEFA regulations.

“The entirely different approaches from participating countries and national associations to high-risk matches at their respective venues has now become a real problem for European fan culture and the integrity of European club competitions,” Eintracht Frankfurt board member Philipp Reschke said of the recent developments in continental club football. “It’s unacceptable that in most places, away fans are welcomed as a matter of course despite major challenges, while in others – most recently in France and Italy in particular – away supporters are simply excluded by authorities in spite of identical circumstances and risks.”

Eintracht Frankfurt submitted a request to UEFA in early October to either move the game against SSC Napoli to a neutral venue or hold it behind closed doors, citing safety and organisational deficiencies at the club’s home stadium.

“UEFA regulations do not yet provide clubs who are unilaterally affected by official bans on away fans, or even the association itself, with any means of countering – or at least offsetting – this practice and the resulting atmospheric and competitive disadvantage on the pitch,” explained Reschke.

In its statement, UEFA confirmed that it is looking closely at adjusting the regulations in light of the rising number of bans. “Despite our frustration at the circumstances we’ve once again been dealt in Naples, we see this as a strong step in the right direction from UEFA,” Reschke continued. “Change will only be possible if the host clubs are given joint responsibility for official restrictions in future, and this way of dealing with security issues no longer unilaterally disadvantages visiting fans and visiting teams.” Since Eintracht fans were first banned from Naples in 2023, there have been 15 further cases of official bans on away supporters in UEFA club competitions.