An impossible task
With the world of football continually dealing with the pandemic on a daily basis, some clubs have been worse hit than others. Italian clubs are facing major problems with Genoa at the centre of an outbreak.
The club has had 17 players made unusable due to positive tests according to Corriere dello Sport.
The outlet also spoke with president Enrico Preziosi about what this could mean for the club in the short and long-term futre.
He said, “I don’t know how we are supposed to turn up to Verona and Inter. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was positive for 16 days at Milan, if that were to be replicated in all our players, it’d be a disaster.”
“What am I supposed to do, field youth team players? The Lega Serie A is prepared for just one free pass, so if this continues, we risk a lot of 3-0 forfeit defeats and will end up in Serie B.”
Genoa have so far played 2, won 1 and lost 1. The game against Verona was certainly looked upon as a winnable tie and the club will want to see fixtures rescheduled where possible.
Naples to Turin
Genoa are not the only club facing difficulties with the virus. Napoli were unable to travel from Naples to Turin to face Juventus due to a travel ban.
Napoli registered 2 positive cases amongst the squad after the match with Genoa. Piotr Zielinski and Eljif Elmas the identified pair. The Italian local healthcare authority ASL said due to the club being in such close proximity to the Genoa outbreak they banned them from travel to Turin.
Under Serie A protocol if a team has 13 available players including a keeper the game must go ahead. However, because Napoli were abiding by local authority’s measures, the argument will be the game should be rescheduled instead of the 3-0 forfeit.
El Napoli no viajó a Turín para su encuentro contra la Juventus por algunos positivos por coronavirus. 🔵 😱
La ‘Vecchia Signora” se presentó en el campo y el presidente Andrea Agnelli explicó la decisión. 🧐 🦓 pic.twitter.com/YDSFwdVaNf
— ESPN Deportes (@ESPNDeportes) October 5, 2020
Juventus president Andrea Agnelli has said that Napoli should have abided by league rules and played the game.
“It is not up to me to say if the rules need to be changed. All I can do is follow the rules as they are written. The protocol was written precisely for what happens if there is a positive test.”
In retaliation, the president of the region of Campania Vincenzo De Luca scorned, “Juventus, through the words of President Andrea Agnelli, made a painful statement, embarrassing. ‘Since there’s a protocol, we will go to the stadium’, they declared.”
“The Juventus President is a man who is passionate, not only about football, but philosophy too. And that’s why I remind him of what Schopenauer said: ‘The glory must be won; honour is not enough to not lose it’.”
“If I had behaved in this way, I would have felt that I lost my sporting honour.”
The outcome of Napoli’s decision not to travel will soon be publicised.
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An impossible task With the world of football continually dealing with the pandemic on a daily basis, some clubs have been worse hit than others. Italian clubs are facing major problems with Genoa at the centre of an outbreak. The club has had 17 players made unusable due to positive tests according to Corriere delloFootball (soccer) greatest goals and highlights | 101 Great Goals – Feed