Banner outside the Marcantonio Bentegodi stadium in Verona. /
The radicals of the Veneto team placed a banner with the coordinates of the city in southern Italy next to the flags of the two countries involved in the war
Unfortunate episode that occurred this Sunday in the Italian league match between Hellas Verona and Naples. Curva Sud, the ultra faction of the Veneto club, welcomed its historic rival with a banner outside the Marcantonio Bentegodi stadium that unfortunately had nothing to do with sport. In it, as can be seen in the image, Russia and Ukraine, immersed in a war for 18 days, are encouraged to battle in Naples. To do this, they ‘provided’ both armies with the coordinates of the city in southern Italy. The photograph has gone viral and has gone around the world thanks to the Italian journalist Giovanni Capuano, who shared the snapshot on Twitter.
It is not the first time that both teams have been involved in loud controversies in their banner-based clashes. Already in 1980 the well-known far-right radicals from Hellas began their crusade against the Neapolitans in yet another demonstration of the existing hatred between the north and south of the transalpine country. “Wash them with the fire of Vesuvius,” they implored the volcano on that occasion. That year, the Partenopeo group responded to the provocation with a literary reference. “Don’t forget that Juliet was a bitch and Romeo a cuckold”, alluding to the tragic love story devised by William Shakespeare, ‘Romeo and Juliet’. Since then, they share one of the great rivalries of Calcio.
Many have been the voices that have condemned the banner alluding to the war between Russia and Ukraine. Luciano Spalletti, Napoli coach, asked that “these people never set foot in a stadium again.” Even the Italian Foreign Minister, the Neapolitan Luigi di Maio, spoke out against it: “It has been disgusting. This banner must be condemned without any justification. This war is real, it is not a game. The gesture is shameful and the intention is shameful. There is no irony, just stupidity », he criticized. For its part, Hellas limited itself to publishing a statement regretting what had happened. “We condemn any act that can generate incitement to hatred, violence and discrimination.”
In sports, which yesterday took a backseat, Napoli took all three points against Hellas Verona who ended up with two sent off in the final stretch. Earlier, Davide Faraoni closed the gap after Victor Osimhen’s brace. The Neapolitans, second with 60 points to three behind Milan, have serious options to win a Scudetto that they have not achieved since 1990, with Maradona in their ranks. Hellas is in ninth position with 41 points, although they are far behind in sixth place that gives access to European competitions, with Roma seven points behind.
