Celtic’s match against Lazio in the Europa League this week has been declared ‘high risk’ by UEFA, report Corriere dello Sport.
This isn’t mainly down to fans who’ll be supporting Neil Lennon’s side at Celtic Park, but more so related to Lazio and that the club have a stadium ban hanging over their head should their supporters not be able to behave themselves.
There’s a worry that ‘ultra’ groups from each club could be involved in trouble. This isn’t based on any precedent, and it appears Celtic are largely the victims of the situation.
Corriere dello Sport reports to an Italian audience that Celtic’s Green Brigade has a ‘strong anti-racist ideology’, and Lazio’s reputation is largely the opposite.
1500 fans of the Serie A club have tickets for the game, and it’s explained that a chunk of those are families who have decided to make a weekend of it in Scotland. Another chunk, around 200-300, will be Lazio ‘ultras’ from the Curva Nord.
‘La Digos’ (Divisione Investigazioni Generali e Operazioni Speciali) will be paying close attention to the latter, and they’re a specialist part of the police force.
Lazio have already made appeals to their fans, making it clear some of the worst behaviour from Lazio fans won’t go unpunished in Glasgow: ‘Scottish law punishes any act of violence, racism, xenophobia and intolerance especially during sporting events; we therefore appeal to the civic sense of the fans to avoid behaviours that can generate reactions from local authorities.
‘In the same way the Lazio supporters are invited not to fall into provocations and not to provoke the home fans in order to avoid putting at risk the safety and security of all the spectators present. The fans’ attention is also drawn to the behaviour which isn’t in any way tolerated by the undersigned club and by the international football community. Unfortunately, lately, despite repeated warnings, part of the (Lazio) support has become the protagonist of gestures and songs, including Roman greetings or discriminatory verses against black players, which have generated economic and disciplinary sanctions against SS Lazio.’
