Inter and Napoli held a minute’s silence to honour Italy legend Gigi Riva, but most fans at the Al-Awwal Park Stadium in Riyadh didn’t know what was going on so they booed, leaving fans in the Peninsula furious.
Riva, Italy’s all-time top goal scorer, died on Monday in Cagliari aged 79. The news broke just before the kick-off of the Supercoppa Final between Napoli and Inter in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Not all players and staff members had even realised Riva had died. Napoli coach Walter Mazzarri, for example, learned about the former striker’s passing when he saw a picture of Riva on the giant screens at the Al-Awwal Park Stadium before the second half.
Lega Serie A had no time to organise a minute’s silence before kick-off so it was observed before the beginning of the second half.
However, most fans at the stadium probably didn’t understand what was going on, so they booed while players on the pitch were clapping.
Italian fans on social media didn’t take it well at all and many commented with frustration on X, formerly Twitter.
Fischi del pubblico arabo durante il minuto di silenzio per Gigi Riva. Gli italiani applaudono#SupercoppaItaliana #NapoliInter pic.twitter.com/YgcMDTk4Rq
— franco vanni (@franvanni) January 22, 2024
That tells a lot why you should avoid tournaments in the middle East. They didn’t have it their way, so they behaved without respect. A lesson to learn for the future
Why would the local fans boo a dead Italian ex footballer? It was obvioulsy some kind of misunderstanding. I don’t know what the misunderstanding was but it seems high.y improbable that it was intentional or meant.
Play it in Italy. Simple. Why do we need to play our games there in the first place.