Lazio fans detained with weapons before Europa League match in Germany

About 60 fans were held overnight and banned from the stadium as the Italian club played Dynamo Kyiv in Hamburg, German police said.

Several supporters of Italian football club Lazio have been banned from attending their UEFA Europa League match against Dynamo Kyiv in Hamburg after German police seized weapons from them, the club and police said.

The fans were stopped after attempting to evade a police escort near the city’s town hall and were subsequently searched by riot officers.

“After the group attempted to evade police surveillance and ignored officers’ shouts, riot police stopped and checked the group,” a police statement said on Wednesday.

Searches found five knives, six meat pounders, two wooden planks, a club, a pipe wrench and a spit, among other items.

Hamburg police said that about 60 fans of the Siere A team spent the night in the cells. Fans were held late on Tuesday and detained until Wednesday.

Lazio recorded a comprehensive 3-0 win against the Ukrainian club.

The match was played in Hamburg due to the continuing Russia-Ukraine war.

Lazio supporters have a long history of creating trouble and the club has been hit with numerous sanctions both in Serie A and Europe.

In March, an Italian fan was arrested in Munich for performing an Adolf Hitler salute before a Lazio match against Bayern Munich.

Before a Champions League game against Bayern Munich in March, one Italian among about 100 Lazio supporters who sang fascist songs in the beer hall where Adolf Hitler founded the Nazi Party was arrested and fined for giving a Hitler salute.

A year earlier, a fan wearing a shirt with a reference to Hitler was banned for life from attending Lazio matches by the Roman club.

Also in 2022-23, Lazio was ordered to play a Serie A game with part of the Olimpico stadium closed to spectators after fans directed racist chants at opposition players.