Napoli President de Laurentiis pushes cameraman, expects fine

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is likely to soon receive a significant fine for actions during a recent television interview. The incident occurred Monday evening, the night before Napoli’s massive Champions League matchup with Barcelona. The two sides previously tied 1-1 in Italy during the first leg of the round of 16 matchup. Whichever club wins the game on Tuesday in Spain will advance to the quarterfinals of the competition.

The mood was initially calm when Napoli forward Matteo Politano was speaking with Sky Italia‘s Massimo Ugolini in a pitchside interview ahead of the fixture. Nevertheless, things soon changed when De Laurentiis interrupted the interview by shouting at his player to not talk to the particular news source. “Politano! Politano! With you (Sky), he’s not allowed to talk,” the Napoli President proclaimed.

Politano, seemingly a bit puzzled, adhered to the request and walked away from the scene. De Laurentiis, however, turned back to Ugolini and the cameraman on the field. The Napoli executive proceeded to yell at the duo and subsequently pushed the cameraman on duty. The cameraman had to step back to avoid losing his balance.

De Laurentiis also claimed that his players were only doing interviews with fellow Sky Sports reporter Gianluca Di Marzio. The news outlet had direct authority from UEFA to conduct the discussion due to a previously agreed broadcasting deal with the governing body. As a result of the shove, De Laurentiis, and Napoli, will both likely receive a fine.

Serie A recently fined Napoli for not doing interviews with DAZN

Following the incident, Sky Sports director Federico Ferri took to social media to lambaste De Laurentiis for his actions. “Sky Sport decides who does Sky Sport interviews,” Ferri posted on X. “I’m speechless at what happened to our journalist and our cameraman: I condemn it without other comments. One thing is certain: we’ll go ahead as always, with professionalism, accuracy, credibility. And courtesy.”

The event was just the latest incident in an ongoing feud between De Laurentiis and the Italian media. De Laurentiis recently blocked all pregame interviews that lacked contractual agreements. However, the 74-year-old film producer is not necessarily merely sticking to contracts.

Napoli players are also barred from speaking with DAZN reporters as well. The massive media company currently owns the rights to many Serie A matches in the country. As a result, DAZN is supposed to have full access to all of the Italian top flight’s teams. Serie A officials have already fined Napoli around $109,000 for the refusal. These punishments could very well continue should De Laurentiis keep banning his players from speaking to the streaming platform.

Napoli President De Laurentiis is an eccentric figure

De Laurentiis has been an eccentric figure at Napoli since becoming involved with the club twenty years ago. At the time of his arrival, the Italian side was bankrupt and sent to the third division. Under the businessman’s guidance, Gli Azzurri eventually made it back to the top flight within three years. The club then recently collected their first Serie A title in over 30 years.

Nevertheless, he is one of the more outspoken figures in European soccer. Never scared to offer an opinion, De Laurentiis has had plenty of feuds during his time with the team. This includes spats with his own players (including former star Ezequiel Lavezzi), Lionel Messi, and Italian soccer officials. The most recent incident with Sky is not exactly surprising, but De Laurentiis will now have to pay the consequences.

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