Mafia revenge killing? Napoli fan dies after sustaining wounds from celebratory gunshots

In a tragic turn of events, a 26-year-old lost his life in the early hours of Friday morning after being wounded in the wild celebrations in Naples after its soccer team became Serie A champions for the first time in 33 years, as per local officials.

According to the police, the man died in Cardarelli Hospital in Naples.

UK media outlets linked the death of the individual to celebratory gunshots, whereas, Reuters, citing Naples Prefect Claudio Palomba, said the incident had “nothing to do with the celebrations” and linked it to score-settling within the local Camorra mafia.

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On Thursday evening, thousands of Napoli supporters took to the streets to celebrate the club's win. After the Napoli team secured the "Scudetto" title with a 1-1 draw away at Udinese in northeast Italy, mass street partying, followed by fireworks, flares, horns and firecrackers, began.

"Even those who don't follow football took to the streets to celebrate. I am not a supporter, but I took to the streets for a sense of belonging to this wonderful city, which has so much to offer," a Naples resident, who gave her name only as Federica, told Reuters.

According to Naples health authorities, at least 203 people accessed emergency services overnight, including 22 with "red-level" critical injuries and 75 with "yellow-level" serious but not life-threatening conditions.

Scuffles between Napoli and Udinese fans after match

As per Italy's news agency, on Thursday, post-match brawls broke out in Udine as Napoli fans ran onto the stadium pitch to celebrate with players.

The reports further added that the fans then encountered aggressive home supporters armed with belts and batons.

According to RAI public television reports, anti-riot police interceded to break up the fights, and reportedly six fans sustained non-serious injuries.

Napoli's historic triumph

Napoli finally ended their long wait to win Italy's Serie A on Thursday after a 1-1 draw at Udinese secured their third league title with a record-equalling five games to play.

Victor Osimhen scored the decisive goal in the second half as Napoli's current stars came back from behind to Sandi Lovric's opener at half-time and emulated the teams led by Diego Maradona which won the league in 1987 and 1990.

Spalletti and his squad will receive an emotional welcome when they return to Naples, where the partying is set to continue until at least their next home fixture against Fiorentina on Sunday evening.

"Seeing Neapolitans happy is enough to give you a sense of that joy they are feeling," Spalletti told DAZN on the verge of tears.

"These people will look to this moment when life gets hard, they have every right to celebrate like this. You feel a bit more relaxed knowing that you've given them this moment of happiness."

(With inputs from agencies)

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