[ad_1]
The match was abandoned 45 minutes after the scheduled start time at 18.45 GMT after Napoli did not travel to Juve’s Allianz Stadium, and now Gennaro Gattuso’s team is at risk of losing the game 3-0.
Juventus players were present for the third game of the season, along with referees and a handful of fans in the rain.
But not the Neapolitans, who remained isolated at home on instructions from the regional health authorities of the Campania region, which is home to the city of Naples, after midfielders Eljif Elmas and Piotr Zielinski tested positive during the week.
Juventus president Andrea Agnelli told Sky Sport Italia: “(Napoli president Aurelio) De Laurentiis asked me to postpone the match, I replied that there are rules that must be respected.”
“A 3-0 win? I always prefer to win on the field,” added Agnelli.
Juventus had confirmed that they would “go out onto the pitch” as scheduled despite two positive tests among their staff this week, with coach Andrea Pirlo and the team arriving an hour before kick-off.
“We have protocols that are very clear,” Agnelli said.
“The protocol was studied by the Federation with the government. It is a living document, the important thing is to have the spirit of sportsmanship honesty, cases will be dealt with and resolved from time to time ”.
Serie A had insisted that all sanitary protocols were in place so that the match could go ahead safely “even in case of positive results.”
He added that these measures are “applicable to the situation of Napoli, which has two positive players for Covid-19.”
Naples is the first team in the five major European leagues that does not take to the pitch due to the coronavirus pandemic in a scheduled match.
’13 healthy players’
The club, meanwhile, moved to deny reports that coach Gennaro Gattuso had tested positive and said another round of swabs would be conducted on Monday.
The positive tests for Zielinski and Elma came after a 6-0 beating of Genoa last weekend, which has since recorded 22 positive cases including 17 players.
Serie A noted that other matches had gone ahead despite positive cases such as the match between Torino and Atalanta, AC Milan against Crotone and Napoli’s hammering against Genoa.
The league said it had “a precise rule to be adopted in case of multiple positive aspects that can lead to postponement of games only if certain conditions occur that, at the moment, do not apply to the case of Napoli.
Serie A is enforcing UEFA rules that say a match can take place as long as a team has 13 healthy players, including a goalkeeper.
The only possible exemption would be a club that has an active Covid-19 outbreak with more than 10 new positive cases in a week.
In that case, the club can request a postponement, but only once in the season, as was the case in Genoa’s game this weekend against Torino.
Series A insisted “that the current system of rules must guarantee the maximum protection of the health of the people involved, equal treatment between the different clubs, as well as respect for the principles of fair play.”
But Napoli believes that the health instructions from its regional authorities supersede Italy’s sports health protocol.
The players may have to stay in isolation for two weeks at a hotel near the club’s facilities, Italian media said on Sunday.
Napoli had won both of their Serie A matches so far this season, while reigning champions Juventus added four points after two games while chasing 10 titles in a row.
ea / td
