Napoli's good start in the Serie A was marred by the game against Juventus. The two Italian clubs were scheduled to clash on Sunday but the Partenopei failed to show up due to COVID-19 infections, and league officials awarded the game to the Old Lady. The decision, however, is up for a review.
Following reports that Napoli players Piotr Zielinski and Eljif Elmas and another staff member of the Naples club have tested positive for the coronavirus, local health officials prevented the team from taking the plane to Turin. So, when Andrea Pirlo's side took to the Allianz Stadium on Sunday, their opponents were nowhere to be found.
The match, nonetheless, was started and after 45 minutes, the referee declared it as a game for Pirlo. If the forfeit will stand, Juventus will overtake Napoli in the standings, and Yahoo Sports said Pirlo will be handed a considerable lead following the slips his side suffered at the start of the Italian competition.
To put it into perspective, the side of Gennaro Gattuso is on a good run in the Serie A games played so far. The campaign saw Napoli enjoying a lead over the defending champions but the unfortunate outcome of the Sunday match would lead Gattuso's squad to fifth or sixth place.
To be sure, the Naples club will exhaust all efforts to reverse the decision. And one possible reference for a protest to be raised by Napoli officials was the recent decision concerning Genoa.
Before the game versus Torino on Sunday, Genoa reported at least 14 confirmed COVID-19 cases among players, and personnel and league officials saw a clear justification to move the match to a later date. Napoli will certainly argue that its case is quite similar to that of Genoa's, and that a game postponement should have been the correct decision with the game against Juventus.
According to Goal, Juventus president Andrea Agnelli is expected to insist that existing league regulations favor a win by his club. He confirmed that Napoli will sue for a postponement but Juventus will abide by the Serie A rules.
"[They] wanted to postpone the match, but we have regulations that tell us how to proceed. Every industry has its rules and we need to respect them," Agnelli was reported as saying.
In a related report, ESPN suggested that the final decision is likely to work in favor of Juventus. The Turin club decided to show up in the game despite the likelihood that Napoli will not be around for the actual play.
On the other hand, Napoli had only three confirmed COVID-19 cases so the club's situation cannot be compared to that of Genoa. It should be noted though that Napoli forfeited because they were forbidden from getting on the plane, meaning the team was trapped in a situation out of their control.
