Napoli fined €20,000 for fan misconduct in Roma match

While there were, thankfully, no major incidents between Napoli and AS Roma fans on Saturday, that doesn't mean that the home faithful were completely well behaved. There was some angry chanting from the San Paolo crowd, as well as very hostile banners and the use of lasers aimed at Roma staff and periodically at the referee.

Napoli have been fined €20,000 for their fans' actions, though thankfully they managed to avoid any partial stadium closures. The big thing that Italy's sport court objected to was the content of the banners, most notably one in the Curva B that roughly translates as "Words are pointless with no chance of mercy." The banners were, obviously, in response to the general lack of remorse from many Roma fans in the wake of the shooting death of Ciro Esposito after Roma and Napoli fans fought in the streets of Rome before the Coppa Italia final in May.

But of course, chants from Roma fans during the next match between these sides at the Olimpico calling Napoli fans awful filth or subhuman will go unpunished because FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio thinks that regionally-based hatred like that either doesn't exist or is perfectly acceptable. Frankly, I'm not sure which is worse.