The postponement of the Serie C play-offs appears inevitable, but Lega Pro is taking its time for the moment, waiting for the CONI Board of Guarantee to set the date of the hearing for the discussion of the appeal of the Taranto against the four-point penalty, filed as expected on Wednesday.
It will take at least ten days to examine and then arrive at a final ruling: this means that the case is unlikely to be closed before May 4, the day on which the play-offs are scheduled to begin, with the first round of the group stage. This is why the postponement of a week appears inevitable, but official moves from the Lega Pro and the Board of Directors convened to decide in this sense are awaited.
Decisions that also awaits Benevento which has already planned a training camp to prepare for the play-offs and which could change its organization based on what the Lega Pro provides. But does Taranto have any hope of having the penalty cancelled? In reality, at best the Ionian club could receive a two-point discountwhich would make it almost impossible to achieve both second and third place.
The point is one and concerns the failure to pay Irpef withholdings and INPS contributions, relating to the two-month period September-October. For the national Federal Tribunal and also for the Federal Court of Appeal, the four-point penalty is justified by the autonomy of the non-compliances: essentially, it is a double violation; for the rossoblù club, however, its homogeneity should be recognized.
