Polizia di Stato Seize 45 kg of Fireworks from Hapoel Fans Ahead of Atalanta Playoff

On the morning of Thursday, August 20, 2026, Polizia di Stato and Carabinieri in Bergamo seized more than 45 kilograms of fireworks from two Hapoel Tel Aviv supporters staying at a local B&B, hours before Atalanta hosted the Israeli club in a UEFA Conference League playoff first leg. Both men were referred to prosecutors and given immediate three-year Daspo stadium bans.

Editor’s note: This article draws on reporting from Corriere della Sera (Bergamo), Il Messaggero, SportMediaset, ANSA, and Goal.com, August 20–21, 2026.

What police found

The seizure was part of preventive security work ordered ahead of a politically sensitive European tie. Officers from the Digos unit of the Bergamo Questura and the local Carabinieri company searched the guesthouse and recovered smoke bombs, firecrackers, and other pyrotechnic material.

Detail	Information
Date	Thursday, August 20, 2026 (morning)
Location	B&B in Bergamo, Lombardy
Material seized	More than 45 kg of pyrotechnics
Suspects	Two Israeli nationals, aged 42 and 43
Affiliation	Identified as Hapoel Tel Aviv supporters
Forces involved	Polizia di Stato (Digos), Arma dei Carabinieri

Investigators said the quantity recovered was large enough to have been used during the evening match at the New Balance Arena. The two fans were questioned and released pending judicial review.

Charges and Daspo bans

Both men were reported to prosecutors on two counts:

1. Possession of pyrotechnic devices at a sporting event — illegal under Italian rules governing stadium safety and public order.
2. Failure to declare explosive materials — a separate offence covering undeclared pyrotechnic substances.

Before kick-off, authorities imposed a Daspo — Italy’s administrative stadium ban — lasting three years on each suspect. A Daspo bars entry to sports venues and can restrict movement near stadiums on match days without a criminal conviction.

The match and security backdrop

Atalanta and Hapoel Tel Aviv met that night in the Conference League playoff first leg, with a place in the competition’s main phase at stake. Kick-off was scheduled for 20:30 CEST at Atalanta’s home ground.

The fixture arrived amid heightened tension around Israeli teams in European football. Protest groups in Bergamo had called for the tie to be cancelled or boycotted, citing the war in Gaza, while local authorities treated the night as a major-security event.

Security measure	Detail
Personnel	Roughly 350 officers deployed, per Italian media citing unofficial figures
Reinforcements	Extra units from other cities, approved by the Interior Ministry
Airspace	NOTAM ban on drones and visual-flight aircraft over the stadium area from August 19 until the venue emptied
Anti-drone gear	Equipment to jam remote controls of unauthorized aircraft
Fan routing	About 1,000 Hapoel supporters escorted from Orio al Serio airport; usual gathering points replaced with the Campo Utili zone near the arena
Entry checks	Tighter screening of banners and flags, including a ban on Palestinian flags inside the stadium

Polizia di Stato led coordination with the prefecture after technical meetings earlier in the week. Israeli fans were told they could not walk to the stadium independently and would travel on escorted ATB buses.

Why the seizure mattered

Italian law strictly limits pyrotechnics at football grounds. Large quantities of undeclared material inside city accommodation — on the same day as a match already under a reinforced security plan — raised obvious public-safety concerns.

Authorities framed the B&B find as proof that preventive policing, not just stadium-gate checks, was necessary for the fixture. The Daspo orders were applied immediately so neither man could attend that night’s game or other venues during the ban period.

Hapoel Tel Aviv’s travelling support is known in Israel for left-wing ultras culture; the club name means “the worker.” Thursday’s operation focused on illegal fireworks, not on broader political activity, though the match itself sat at the intersection of sport and geopolitics.

What happens next

Prosecutors in Bergamo will decide whether to pursue formal charges over the pyrotechnics and undeclared explosives. The three-year Daspo bans stand regardless of that outcome.

Atalanta must still navigate the sporting side of the tie. The second leg will determine whether either club advances to the Conference League group stage — but the August 20 morning raid became one of the defining off-pitch images of a night when Polizia di Stato was already the most visible presence in the city.

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Discussion

1. Can strict pyrotechnics enforcement coexist with traveling fan culture, or does seizing 45 kg of material show the rules are applied unevenly across European away days?

Italian stadium law is among the toughest in Europe. Supporters from abroad sometimes arrive with flares or smoke bombs as routine match-day gear. Does a pre-match B&B raid protect public safety, or mainly manage a politically charged fixture?

2. Should security around Israeli clubs in European competitions keep expanding — drone bans, escorted buses, flag restrictions — or does that normalize an unsustainable burden on host cities?

Bergamo deployed hundreds of officers, closed airspace, and rerouted an entire away support. If every such tie requires this scale of policing, who should pay the cost — clubs, UEFA, or local taxpayers?

Share where you think the line falls between safety, free expression, and the politics that now follow some fixtures off the pitch.

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This article is news and general legal information, not personal legal advice. Stadium bans, criminal charges, and pyrotechnics rules vary by jurisdiction; consult qualified counsel for case-specific guidance.