A banner from Napoli fans calling for ‘no war’ has been banned from entering the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona for tonight’s Europa League game with Barcelona.
The second leg of the Europa League play-off is due to kick off at 20.00 GMT.
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The Napoli ultras from the Curva B had prepared a banner going into the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona that very simply reads: ‘NO TO WAR!’
It was clearly a reference to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began overnight, and was a call for peace.
However, UEFA considered it to be a political message and therefore not one that would be allowed into the stands for one of their events.
The first leg of this play-off ended 1-1 at Camp Nou and the winner will go through to the Europa League Round of 16.
Absurdo: las autoridades le negaron a los ultras del #Napoli llevar en el #Maradona esa pancarta debido a la presencia de los árbitros rusos. Como si “no a la guerra” fuera un mensaje político… @diarioas pic.twitter.com/QQA7oKB0JF
— Mirko Calemme (@mirkocalemme) February 24, 2022