Serial A round 3 ended up with match abandonment as the Napoli side failed to show up at Turin for the match against Juventus on Sunday. Juventus is likely to be handed 3-0 against Gattuso’s side after 45 minutes waiting for the visitors to end up in a walkover.
Napoli had been prevented to travel by local health authorities after Piotr Zielinski and Eljif Elmas tested positive.
Pirlo’s side arrived one hour before kickoff and at Turin, as Seria A league refused to postpone the game after the chaos of the corona virus pandemic.
An official from Napoli ASL confirmed in an interview that Napoli players had been ordered to stay at home.
“We’ve never expressly said they can’t play but it’s clear that is a consequence” he said.
He said they would challenge any decision to forfeit the game.
Juventus tweeted ‘Matchday’ hours before the match accompanied by Cristiano Ronaldo’s picture, saying that they are preparing for the match.
“Juventus abide by the rules and there is a clear protocol,” club president Andrea Agnelli told reporters.
Seria A refused to postpone the game saying the ASL had failed to take into the health protocol agreed between the country’s health and sports ministry and the football authorities. Which states that the rest of the squad can still train and play despite having positive tested cases in the team. The statement added that several teams had been played after players tested positive.
“The protocol lays down certain rules that cannot be deviated from, which allow league matches to be played even in the event of a positive result, deploying players who have tested negative,” it said.
Juventus is likely to be handed a 3-0 victory but Napoli insist that they will challenge the decision and ask for games to replay insisting that they were in quarantined by the local health authority.
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