Fans slammed for celebration
Rome, June 19: Thousands of Napoli football fans who poured into the streets to celebrate their team’s Italian Cup title without social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic were criticised by health officials as being reckless.
World Health Organisation assistant director general Ranieri Guerra said the scenes reminded him of Atalanta’s Champions League game with Valencia in February.
That match, which was been labeled Game Zero by local media, is believed to have been a key factor in why the virus had been so deadly in the northern city of Bergamo.
Reckless, Guerra said, “Right now we can’t permit these things. Deputy Health Minister Sandra Zampa added that it amounted to dangerous behavior.”
Shortly after Napoli beat Juventus in an empty stadium in Rome on Wednesday night for the team’s first title in six years, supporters in Naples flooded into central piazzas and set off fireworks as they celebrated
Napoli fans come out on the streets to celebrate their team’s Italian Cup win over Juventus on Thursday.
into the early hours of Thursday morning. Hardly any of them were seen wearing masks.
Naples Mayor Luigi De Magistris called the criticism hypocritical.
“Either the games shouldn’t have been played until September or in some way what happened the other night was inevitable,” De Magistris said.
“Only people who don’t know Naples could think that after a victory over the Juventus of (Maurizio) Sarri and (Gonzalo) Higuain that Neapolitans would remain at home to celebrate,” the mayor added, referring to the former
Napoli coach and striker who are now both with the club’s biggest rival.
“But that doesn’t mean people in the city are taking the virus lightly, because since about the start of June the contagion level in Naples has been zero,” De Magistris added that his only criticism for fans was for jumping into historic fountains.
After a three-month break because of the pandemic, Italian football was given the go-ahead by the government to restart last week with the Italian Cup semifinals. Serie A, the nation’s top football league, is set resume from Saturday. — AP to