Frankfurt MP Armand Zorn has penned a letter to the Italian ambassador in Berlin highlighting his dissatisfaction at the Italian Interior Ministry’s decision not to allow Eintracht fans to attend the Champions League game against Napoli.
An injunction on Tuesday morning prohibited Napoli from selling tickets to away supporters ahead of the second leg of the Round of 16 tie at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.
The decision came following the violent altercations between supporters after the first leg of the fixture at the Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt.
Zorn, a Bundestag representative from the city of Frankfurt-am-Main, has complained about the decision in a letter to the Italian ambassador to Germany, Armando Varricchio, labelling the injunction as a “dangerous precedent for European football.”
As per accounts in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the letter read: “This ban is a serious interference on sporting competition and the fan culture of Eintracht and football in general.
“The argument of security concerns justifies the need for extra police measures to ensure the safety of supporters surrounding the event, but not a complete ban. I see this as a dangerous precedent for European football,” it continued.
“A football game includes the fans of both teams. Anything else goes against the spirit of football.”
According to the official UEFA allocation, Eintracht fans would have been entitled to 2,700 tickets for the game in Naples, all of which will no longer be valid.
In light of the cancellations, six specially planned chartered flights from Frankfurt to Naples have also been called off.
Eintracht board member Philipp Reschke has said that fans will likely: “first have to pay the costs,” adding that the ban is “a unique and first-time event in European club football.”