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Napoli football fans told to avoid ‘dangerous’ Vesuvius celebrations

Napoli fans on Friday were urged to keep away from Mount Vesuvius after reports that they were planning to celebrate their first Italian Serie A title in 33 years with a stunt on the volcano.

Napoli football fans
Napoli football fans were asked to avoid 'dangerous' title celebrations on Naples' Vesuvius volcano on Friday. Photo by Tiziana FABI / AFP

The Vesuvius National Park Authority said it had read “with great concern” media reports about plans by some fans to organise a “simulation of the Vesuvius explosion with an ‘invasion’ of the area and the lighting of tricolour smoke bombs on the top of the crater”.

“The park authority considers this idea dangerous and not feasible,” it said in a statement ahead of two crucial matches on Sunday.

Naples, the southern Italian city over which Vesuvius looms, has for weeks been celebrating what would be the home side’s first Scudetto since the days of Diego Maradona.

On Sunday, if they win their match against Salernitana and if second-placed Lazio fail to win at Inter Milan, Napoli will be crowned Italian champions.

The National Park revealed that on Wednesday it had written to local authorities responsible for public order, asking them to take “appropriate measures” to stop intrusions into the protected area.

Park commissioner Raffaele De Luca confirmed that no authorisation for any celebration on Vesuvius had been or would be issued. “The Vesuvius crater is a fragile and intrinsically dangerous place,” he said in a statement.

Mount Vesuvius, Naples

Naples’ Mount Vesuvius is the only active volcano in continental Europe. Photo by Eliano IMPERATO / AFP

“We are all happy about Napoli’s victory, which brings honour to the region and will bring great joy to its citizens, but the celebrations must be limited to what is permitted in the rules of civil life.”

Vesuvius is the only active volcano in continental Europe. It erupted in 79 AD, destroying the city of Pompeii and covering everything in its path with volcanic ash.

The national park was established in 1995 to preserve the fragile ecosystem around the volcano, whose highest peak reaches 1,277 metres.

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PROTESTS

Protest staged in Milan over Winter Olympics

Activists protesting against the environmental impact of the 2026 Winter Olympics took to the streets of Milan on Saturday as part of a series of demonstrations against the Games.

Protest staged in Milan over Winter Olympics

Around 1,000 people marched on a soaking wet day in the northern Italian city to decry the building of infrastructure for the Milan-Cortina Games, including the event’s controversial bobsleigh track.

The march was organised by pressure group Unsustainable Olympics Committee, a network of hiking groups, environmental activists, heritage associations and left-wing political movements.

They contend the sporting event will have a negative impact on the environment in Italy’s mountains and the cost of housing in Milan, and have organised other, smaller protests over the last week.

“I’m here to defend the environment from an unsustainable model of development,” careworker Simona Antonioli, 29, told AFP.

“The mountains are increasingly becoming prey for speculators, and we also want more protection there.”

The Italian government announced earlier this month that the Games’ bobsleigh track would be built in Cortina d’Ampezzo, despite opposition from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and after organisers had announced that sliding events would take place outside Italy.

The IOC said that the 82-million-euro ($88.6-million) project may not being ready in time for the extensive testing needed before the Games, while having little long-term benefit to local residents.

Italian construction company Pizzarotti, the sole bidder for the contract, has 13 months to build a 1,445m-long (4,740-foot) track which includes 16 bends and requires complex refrigeration systems.

“The mountains are not an amusement park,” said protestor Alberto Di Monte, 38.

To “turn the mountains into a track is to have the wrong idea of what the mountains are.”

Events at the Winter Olympics will be spread widely across northern Italy, as well as in Milan and Cortina.

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