Udine’s recovery causes Roma and Lega Serie A to argue. And advances and postponements are postponed

Now it’s official, the 18 minutes of the match between Udinese and Roma will be made up for next April 25th at 8pm. The match, we remember, was suspended with a 1-1 result, last April 14, due to Ndicka’s illness. The Lega Serie A took into consideration the letter that the club had sent to it asking to postpone the recovery of the final match so as to be able to play on Saturday 27th with Napoli and have the same days of rest as Bayer Leverkusen, the club’s next opponent. Giallorossi in the semi-finals of the Europa League, with the first leg at the Olimpico on 2 May. President Lorenzo Casini also convened an emergency League Council to discuss the case, from which it emerged that there were no conditions to be able to derogate from the Statute.

A decision, that of the Lega Serie A, to which Roma itself promptly respondedwho expressed their dissent with an official note: “AS Roma, with its European results and four consecutive semi-finals, has contributed to the UEFA ranking and therefore to the fifth slot for Italian teams in the next Champions League like few other clubs.
Despite this, the President of the Lega Serie A Lorenzo Casini today endorsed an unjust decision that will force Roma to face Bayer 04 Leverkusen, at a disadvantage. This represents a clear step backwards for the entire football system in Italy.
The team, players and staff of AS Roma reaffirm their commitment to resist this unjustified adversity and to achieve, with the support of their incredible fans, their maximum goals this season. Go Rome!”.

This is the full press release from the Lega Serie A with the reasons for the recovery of Udinese-Roma set for 25 April: “The President of Lega Serie A, given AS Roma’s request to play SSC Napoli on Saturday 27 April and thus postpone the 18-minute injury time of the interrupted match against Udinese until at least mid-May, has today urgently called the League Council. The Council confirmed the application of article 30, paragraph 3, of the Lega Serie A Statute, which provides that the continuation of interrupted matches, as in the case of Udinese-Roma, be carried out within 15 days of interruption has occurred. The recovery of the remaining minutes of the match in question will therefore take place on 25 April at 8pm, the first available date within the 15 days provided for by the Statute and at a time that facilitates the organization of the trip for the Company guest. The date of the Napoli-Roma match will consequently be set taking into account the needs expressed by AS Roma”.

The League, therefore, as stated in the last part of the press release, has nevertheless allowed Roma to decide whether to play with Napoli on Saturday or Sunday, which is why the schedule of advances and postponements of the 34th matchday will arrive today and not yesterday as previously announced.

What the regulation says
Specifically, the Lega Serie A regulation in article 30 paragraph 3 – the one cited in the press release – states that “for interrupted matches, the two clubs have the right to agree to play the continuation of the match the following day, subject to ratification by the agreement by the Lega Serie A. In case of failure to reach an agreement between the two clubs or failure to ratify by the Council, the President will set the date for the continuation of the match, to be carried out within fifteen days of the provision”. Therefore, given the absence of midweek commitments on the part of both Roma and Udinese, the fortnight cannot be extended (unlike the Atalanta-Fiorentina recovery, postponed on 17 March, given the commitments in the Italian Cup and in Europe of the two clubs).