Rome won't allow Feyenoord fans to attend Champions League match against Lazio

Bad news for Feyenoord supporters. Rome won’t allow them to attend the upcoming away match against Lazio in Group E of the Champions League. The city still remembers the riots following a Feyenoord-AS Roma match in 2015.

In 2015, Feyenoord supporters rioted through Rome’s streets, causing massive damages, including to a 17th-century Barcaccia fountain near the Spanish Steps.

Rome hasn’t allowed Feyenoord supporters to attend the Rotterdam club’s away matches there since. Last season, they were also banned from the Lazio - Feyenoord and the AS Roma - Feyenoord matches in the Europa League.

"A very tough attitude is needed to protect the city and the country because we have seen very serious incidents of violence in the past,” mayor Roberto Gualtieri of the Italian city said in April before the AS Roma - Feyenoord match.

According to AD, Feyenoord and its supporters had hoped for a reprieve. The Rotterdam club’s first away match this season, last week in Spain against Atletico Madrid, happened without major incident despite Feyenoord taking thousands of supporters to the Spanish capital. The local police only reported one incident in the VIP section shortly before the match, resulting in a few arrests.

Feyenoord will play against Lazio at home on October 5 and the return in Italy on November 7. The Rotterdam authorities have not yet said whether they will allow Italian supporters at the home match.