A fugitive on Italy's most-wanted list has been caught in Greece after he was snapped celebrating Napoli winning the football league title, said Italian police.

Hometown passion for the champions from Naples betrayed the hideout of Vincenzo La Porta, from Italy, who was captured while riding a motor scooter on a Greek island.

Naples-based Carabinieri paramilitary police said the man, who was on Italy’s list of 100 most dangerous fugitives, was spotted in a photo of fans in a restaurant in Corfu, who were celebrating after the Napoli players clinched Italy’s top league title a few weeks ago.

Police then headed to Corfu to tail the fugitive, identified by them as 60-year-old La Porta, who had been on the run for 11 years.

They didn’t specify when his recent arrest was carried out, but said officers blocked him going down a Corfu street on a motor scooter. Greek police later said La Porta was arrested on Friday.

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La Porta, considered close to a crime clan of the Naples-based Camorra syndicate, has been convicted in absentia of criminal association, tax evasion and fraud, the police said.

He is now in a Greek jail awaiting extradition to Italy, where he is due to serve a prison sentence of 14 years and four months. It wasn’t immediately clear whether La Porta had a lawyer.

Police said they had been following La Porta’s online activity, including financial movements, and waited for him to make a false move that could tip them off to his whereabouts.

"Betraying him was his passion for football and for the Napoli team," police said in a statement. "With the championship victory, La Porta couldn’t resist celebrating."

Investigators spotted him in a photo of people cheering at the restaurant, where he was holding in his hands a scarf in the sky-blue colors of his hometown team.

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