NAPOLI HAVE BEEN given a 3-0 defeat and deducted one point for failing to turn up for their Serie A clash at Juventus earlier this month, the league announced today.
The Serie A disciplinary commission ruled that there was no “force majeure” preventing Napoli from travelling despite two positive coronavirus tests.
Gennaro Gattuso’s side remained in isolation on the instructions of health authorities in the Campania region after Eljif Elmas and Piotr Zielinski tested positive, and they did not travel to Turin on 4 October.
Serie A ruled “the complaint lodged by Napoli regarding the legality of the match is to be considered inadmissible”.
Italy’s top flight is applying Uefa rules that say a match can take place as long as a side have 13 healthy players, including a goalkeeper.
The only possible exemption would be a club which has an active outbreak of Covid-19 with more than 10 new positive cases in a week.
In that case the club can request a postponement, but only once in the season, which was the case of Genoa’s game against Torino the same weekend.
As a result of the decision champions Juventus move fourth in Serie A, with Napoli now eighth with five points.
Napoli had won their first two matches this season as they target a first Serie A title in 30 years.
Meanwhile, US midfielder Weston McKennie has tested positive for coronavirus sending Juventus back into isolation.
McKennie, 22, is the second Juventus player to test positive this week after Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo, who failed a test while on national team duty.
“During the checks provided for by the protocol in force, Weston McKennie has tested positive for Covid-19,” Juventus said in a statement, they said the team had gone into isolation on Wednesday evening.
This procedure will allow all persons negative to the controls to carry out regular training and match activities, but will not allow contact with people outside of the group.”
The entire Juventus squad was already isolating after two positive cases among non-playing staff on 3 October, a procedure that did not prevent them from training or playing, but prohibits contact with the outside.
Italian health regulations stipulate that the two positive players must remain in self-isolation for at least ten days and test negative before rejoining their team-mates.
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