Celtic’s Champions League opponents have fan bans dished out
Feyenoord and Lazio fans have both been banned from attending the away leg of the two clubs’ upcoming double-header in Celtic’s Champions League group.
The Bhoys face off against Atletico Madrid on the next two matchdays in Group E. Meanwhile, the Dutch side and the Italians place each other home and away.
Earlier this week, Feyenoord supporters were banned from attending the Lazio match by local Rome authorities, following up from apparent fan disorder a number of years ago.
In response, the Eredivisie outfit released their own disgruntled statement declaring that Lazio fans would not be welcome in Rotterdam.
Feyenoord said: “No away fans are welcome at Feyenoord’s home match against Lazio (October 25) or the return match in Rome (November 7).
“A Feyenoord delegation that traveled specially to Italy was told this week that its supporters are not welcome in Rome. Now that this decision has been taken, by order of the Italian Ministry of the Interior, the so-called triangle (mayor, police chief and the chief public prosecutor) and Feyenoord do not consider it responsible to receive Italian supporters in De Kuip. This is from the point of view of both safety and, for Feyenoord, from the point of view of sportsmanship. The result is that no away fans are allowed to attend the Champions League ties.
“In the past period, a delegation from Feyenoord has traveled to Rome twice to discuss the possibilities of admitting away audiences. Feyenoord’s idea was to allow at least between 1,200 and 1,500 away fans at the matches. Feyenoord considered this a feasible and responsible scenario, also pointing to the virtually incident-free meeting with Atlético Madrid last week. Lazio also seemed to share this opinion. However, the Italian authorities decided differently, which also created a new situation for the home game in Rotterdam.”
It’s a messy situation but effectively means the home advantage for both teams is even more pronounced than it otherwise would be.
Typically at least 5% of stadiums are given over to away sides for their travelling support. The Bhoys had a strong following in Rotterdam recently and are expected to travel well to both Madrid and Rome in upcoming matches.
With Celtic in such a precarious position in the group, the Hoops would likely benefit from one of Lazio or Feyenoord winning both matches, leaving Brendan Rodgers’ side fighting it out for third.
Most importantly, Celtic have to pick up some points against Atletico over the coming weeks with the Spaniards visiting Glasgow first on October 25th.
