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Juventus vs Napoli Fixture in Chaos Over COVID-19

Thompson Nsisongabasi

Oct 05, 2020

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One of the top Serie A fixtures of the season descended into chaos on Sunday when Napoli failed to turn up for their match at Juventus.

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This was after their local health authority told the players to stay at home following positive COVID-19 cases.

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With the Serie A league refusing to call the game off, Juventus arrived at the Allianz stadium in Turin in their team bus one hour before the scheduled kick-off time.

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Then, there was no sign of Napoli.

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Under Serie A rules, Juventus would be handed a 3-0 win in the match, which was due to kick off at 2045 local time (1845 GMT).

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A Napoli spokesman confirmed to Reuters that the team had been placed into isolation by the health authority (ASL) after two players tested positive in the last four days.

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He said they would challenge any decision to forfeit the game.

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An official from the Naples ASL confirmed in a television interview that the Napoli players had been ordered to stay at home.

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"We've never expressly said they can't play, but it's clear that is a consequence," he said.

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Earlier, Serie A said the ASL had failed to take into account the health protocol agreed between the country's health and sports ministry and the football authorities.

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This states that, if players test positive, the rest of the squad can still train and play again, providing they are tested again and return negative results.

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The statement added that several matches had been played this season after teams had one or more players test positive.

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"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.

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Juventus, who said on Saturday that they would take the field, made a point of saying they were preparing for the match.

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The club said simply "Matchday" in a post on Twitter accompanied by a photograph of forward Cristiano Ronaldo and the time and venue of the match.

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Last Sunday, Napoli hosted Genoa, where 17 players have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week.

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Genoa's match at home to Torino on Saturday was postponed.

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Serie A has ruled that matches should go ahead provided each team has a minimum of 13 players available and that teams who cannot play would suffer a forfeit.

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However, teams have the right to ask for a postponement without forfeiting if 10 players are infected within one week.

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— Thompson Nsisongabasi

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