Italy vs England Friendly: Supporters of the Italy national team and the England national team arranged a friendly football match amongst themselves coinciding with the UEFA Euro Qualifiers match between the two sides in Naples. However, ahead of the friendly, the head of England’s supporter’s team received threatening mail from the Italian Ultras. This threat prompted the match to be cancelled. Follow Euro Qualifiers LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
The UEFA Euro Qualifiers match between Italy and England is set to be held in Naples. Coinciding with the match, the supporters of the two teams called for a friendly match amongst themselves on the same day. Matches like these have happened previously as well. Football associations are usually involved in these matches and they make sure the safety of the fans is of utmost importance.
Ahead of this supporters’ match, England supporters’ team head, Garford Beck received a threatening mail from the Italy Ultras saying, “We will be there, 60 ultra to get you.” He let the concerned authorities know about this as soon as possible. Following that, the Italian FA informed Beck that the match was cancelled.
#ENG fans’ friendly v Italy in Naples cancelled after threat from Ultras. “Even if police have assured the highest level of attention to the event, also providing appropriate security measures, we believe this atmosphere is not in line with the spirit of this match,” Italian FA
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) March 20, 2023
As the match was cancelled, Garford Beck said, “Safety has to be our priority and we would have been an easy target for these people. They normally come tooled up to the hilt so it could have been a very nasty situation had I not opened that email. There’s been no hint of anything until I opened that email.”
Garford Beck said that the England supporters’ side played the Italian supporters’ side in September, last year in Milan and it occurred without any hinges. About the match, he said, “We’re just out there to get together with whoever it is we’re playing, have a game of football, have a few beers and go off to the match, it’s nothing more than that really.”
After the previous week’s Champions League clash between Napoli and Eintracht Frankfurt, there were fights between the fans of both sides. Cars were smashed and set on fire in the process. Around 2500 Three Lions fans are set to make their journey to Naples to support their national team play. However, that match has not been cancelled by the Italian FA.
As Gareth Southgate was asked about safety concerns, he said, “In the end, it’s for the Italian FA to decide where they play their games.” He added, “Clearly, our organisation will always try to make the travelling experience as smooth as possible for our fans and that’s important.”
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