Manchester City fans banned from wearing belts at Napoli Champions League game

Banned: City fans will not be allowed to take belts into the ground
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Tom Dutton31 October 2017

Manchester City fans have been banned from wearing belts to Napoli's Stadio San Paolo on Wednesday night.

Staff and media are also prohibited from taking the garments into the ground for the Champions League fixture. It is unclear whether the ban extends to Pep Guardiola and his City players.

The move comes after Napoli fans wielding belts 'ambushed’ City fans ahead of the sides' meeting at the Etihad Stadium on October 17.

At least three people were injured and one Napoli fan was sent to prison for five months, but general secretary of the Manchester City Supporters Club Kevin Parker has branded the move to ban belts for the Group F fixture "ridiculous".

"It's absolutely crazy," he told the Daily Mail. "I know they have had issues with Napoli fans using belts as weapons but since when has that been a thing in England? Why, all of a sudden, should City fans be banned?"

It is not the first time City have been subjected to bans in the Champions League in recent years. Uefa opened disciplinary proceedings against the club in 2015 after fans booed the competition anthem, while a 2014 tie against CSKA Moscow was played in an empty stadium following offences by the Russian side, including racist chanting.

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Parker added: "It seems like something always happens with City in this competition. First we're banned from booing, then we were banned from a stadium and now we have been banned from wearing belts."

Manchester City will qualify for the knockout stages if they avoid defeat in Naples.