A friendly between fans has been cancelled
A friendly between England and Italy supporters ahead of their European Championship qualifier in Naples has been cancelled after it was targeted by hooligans.
The Daily Mail have revealed that they have seen a threatening email sent to England fans group ‘englandfans FC’ who had arranged a game against their Italian counterparts to take place on the day of the game (Thursday).
An anonymous note sent warns organiser and lifelong England fan Garford Beck ‘you be warned only 1 times’. It adds that Napoli’s infamous ultras ‘are coming for you’ before criticising him for advertising the game in public. You advertise this game for us to see where you’ll be. Stupid man you are. We will be there. 60 ultra to get you. Be warned.’
Naples was the epicentre of violence in the build up to last week’s Champions League tie between Napoli and Eintracht Frankfurt while concerns over the safety of the 2,500 fans travelling to the south of Italy.
Beck has been in contact with the FIGC, Italy’s supporters’ group, and the authorities, leading to doubts about whether or not the game will take place.
“I was going through my emails and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. I had no choice other than to get in touch with our friends in Italy to see if this was a viable threat,” he explained.
“They’ve taken it really seriously and are having meetings with the police and local authority.
“They’ve said that if they can’t guarantee our safety then they will cancel it which is such a shame for us and them. I felt I had no choice to flag it and we’ll have to wait and see.”
There are fears that England supporters will be targeted – given that the city has a reputation for hooliganism – despite the locals not traditionally being big supporters of the national side.
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