Roma and Napoli fans fight  on motorway

Italian political leaders vowed to crack down on violent football fans after Roma and Napoli supporters on their way to different matches clashed at a motorway services area, forcing authorities briefly to shut the main road linking the north and south.

“Motorway closed and Italian travellers stranded — the culprits should pay for the damage from their own pockets, and never go to the stadium again,” Matteo Salvini, the transport minister and head of the coalition League party, said.

The Napoli fans were heading north to Genoa for a game against Sampdoria, while the Roma fans were also driving north en route to Milan, where their team faced AC Milan.

The supporters clashed near a motorway service station on the A1 motorway in Tuscany.

Napoli ultras threw stones and smoke bombs from the side of the road at the passing Roma fans, who stopped their minivans to retaliate. The skirmishes between hooded youths spread to the service station forecourt before police restored order.

Videos posted on social media by public broadcaster RAI show dozens of supporters fighting with flares, belts and bats.

A Roma fan who had required medical treatment after the clashes was later arrested while police said they would use video images to identify other suspects.

“Napoli strongly condemns the behaviour by so-called supporters, who unfortunately still attend football matches in Italy, which involved creating disruption and danger for true fans,” Napoli, the Serie A leaders, said in a statement. “They also struck fear into people who had nothing to do with football on the A1 motorway. It is unacceptable for violent people to travel across Italy and attend stadiums without any consequences.”

Gabriele Gravina, president of the Italian football federation, decried as “shameful what happened”, adding that “institutions can and must do more”.

“These people have nothing to do with sport and should be punished,” he said