Team fails to show for Italian match following COVID cases

An Italian soccer league fixture was abandoned in bizarre circumstances on Sunday when Napoli failed to turn up for their match with Juventus, after its local health authority told players to stay at home following positive tests for novel coronavirus.

The team had not been given permission to leave the Campania region by the health authority after two of its players, midfielders Piotr Zielinski and Eljif Elmas, tested positive, according to ESPN sources.

The scheduled match in Turin then descended into chaos when the Serie A league authority and Juventus refused to postpone, as requested by the Naples club.

Reuters news agency reported that Juventus and match officials arrived at the Allianz stadium one hour before the scheduled evening kickoff time, and prepared to play the match.

With the stadium floodlights on and the arena's music playing, the Juventus stars appeared on the pitch in their club kits, but their opponents remained in Naples.

The referee, following procedure, called off the game 45 minutes after kick-off, with Serie A listing it as "not played" on its website. Under Serie A rules, Juventus would be handed a 3-0 win.

A Napoli spokesman confirmed to Reuters that they would challenge any decision to forfeit the game.

According to ESPN, authorities in Naples told TV station RAI the Napoli players are in "strict quarantine" and "could face criminal charges" if they break it.

In a statement, Serie A said the Naples Health Authority, orASL, failed to take into account the health protocol agreed between the country's Health and Sports Ministry and the soccer authorities.

The agreement 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. The league's statement noted that several matches had been played this season after teams had one or more players test positive.

Ignoring the request from Napoli, the Juventus management made deliberate efforts to show they were preparing for the match. Its media team posted a Tweet which said "Matchday", accompanied by a photograph of forward Cristiano Ronaldo, hours before kickoff.

"Juventus abide by the rules and there is a clear protocol," the club president, Andrea Agnelli, told reporters.

He added: "The sporting rules are ... clear and say that if a team does not show up, they face disciplinary sanctions. The Sporting Judge will speak tomorrow, and based on his decision, there will be further reflections.

"It is evident that the fact that a team does not reach a stadium to play a planned match does not give a great image of Italian football."