Several fans of Bari, an Italian Serie B team, clashed with the players on board a plane after the 5-0 defeat against Empoli, forcing the airline to request police assistance and delaying the flight's departure by about an hour.

Bari, owned by the De Laurentiis family—who also run the Napoli—, fell to Empoli over the weekend and remains in the relegation zone.

After the criticism at the stadium, some fans gathered at the airport to return to Bari, in the Apulia region, where the reproaches and protests against the players continued. Some supporters were on the same flight and greeted the players' arrival with sarcastic applause, shouts, and inappropriate expressions.

As seen in videos that went viral on social media, some players reacted to the provocations and even confronted the fans.

The newspaper La Repubblica reported that a player was punched in the aisle of the plane and responded with a kick. To prevent the situation from escalating, the crew requested the presence of the Italian police, causing a delay of almost an hour for the flight. The club, chaired by Luigi De Laurentiis, recently sacked coach Fabio Caserta and hired Vincenzo Vivarini, but poor results and the heavy defeat against Empoli are maintaining tension between players and fans.