SSC Napoli risk a 3-0 forfeit for failing to turn up for their Serie A clash against Juventus amid a row over COVID-19 protocols in Italy on Sunday, allowing title rivals Atalanta BC and AC Milan to move top of Serie A ahead of Inter, who were held at SS Lazio.
Gennaro Gattuso’s Napoli had been top of the league going into the weekend with two wins in as many games as they target a third Serie A title and first in 30 years, but Eljif Elmas and Piotr Zielinski’s positive COVID-19 tests forced the southerners into home isolation on the instructions of health authorities in the Campania region.
However, Serie A said that all the health protocols were in place for the match in Turin to go ahead safely.
Photo: AFP
“[Napoli president Aurelio] De Laurentiis asked me to postpone the match, I replied that there are regulations to be respected,” Juventus president Andrea Agnelli told Sky Sport Italia.
“A 3-0 win? I always prefer to win on the field,” Agnelli added, whose side had four points after two games as they chase a 10th consecutive title.
Amid the turmoil, Andrea Pirlo’s champions prepared for the game as usual. The Juventus bus pulled into the Allianz Stadium an hour beforehand, with the players remaining in their tracksuits on the pitch.
The match was eventually abandoned 45 minutes after its scheduled start time, with Napoli’s fate now depending on a meeting of Italian league officials today.
Elsewhere, Inter were held 1-1 in a bad-tempered game against Lazio in Rome, where both teams finished a man down.
Atalanta crushed Cagliari 5-2 in their first game in Bergamo this season, bringing their tally to 13 goals in three games played.
AC Milan beat promoted Spezia 3-0 to extend their unbeaten run to 15 games.
Hellas Verona fell to their first defeat of the season after Jasmin Kurtic scored within the first minute to give Parma a 1-0 win, their first this season, while Benevento defeated Bologna 1-0.
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