Reports | Juventus to be handed victory after Napoli fail to show up due to COVID-19 quarantine

10/05/2020

According to Sky Sports, Napoli are set to be handed a 3-0 loss by the Serie A after they failed to show up for their match against Juventus in Turin. This comes after the local health authority reportedly refused to let the Partenopei travel after two squad members tested positive for COVID-19.

With the Serie A adamant that the game must go on, it saw Juventus wait for Napoli to show up despite the Partenopei unable to travel. This came after strict orders from the club’s local health authorities who refused to let the Serie A giants travel to Turin in order to face the reigning Champions on Sunday. Reports indicated that Napoli were under strict instructions to not leave the city of Naples as they were under quarantine.

Not only that, ESPN has reported that the Napoli side were told they could face criminal charges if they broke the orders but Juventus continued to prepare as though they were about to face an opponent. It was because the Serie A officials refused to call off the game and they even released a statement over the same where they revealed that there were no grounds for postponing it which meant that Napoli had to show up.

Under the rules of the Italian top tier, Juventus are set to be handed a 3-0 win although Sky Sports, and Reuters, have revealed that Napoli will challenge the decision. Juventus president Andrea Agnelli also revealed that Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis had asked him to postpone the game. But Agnelli further admitted that it wasn’t possible as Juventus would be “failing as citizens” if they didn’t “follow the rules”.

"De Laurentiis sent me a message, asking for the game to be postponed and I replied that, as always, Juventus will follow the rules. If we don't, we are failing as citizens rather than sportsmen,” Agnelli said reported ESPN.