“Follow the announcement on the advance and postponement of the championship live on Serie A radio at 1pm”. This is what the League’s website initially read yesterday morning, which it corrected shortly afterwards: 5.30 pm. From then on the delirium. Hours went by and the press release never arrived while on live radio the various presenters tried to climb the ladder by continuously reciting: “the advances I’m on the home stretch” and also: “in the League they have been working for hours to smooth everything out”. At the end of the day the press release will not be released, only the date of the recovery between Udinese and Roma will be established, with the last 20 minutes to be played on Thursday the 25th starting from 8pm, amid protests from the Friedkins and the fans. A global mess that has unleashed a storm on the web.
The press release from the Lega Serie A
Only late in the hour, after endless postponements, did the League show up with a statement: “The President of Lega Serie A – we read in a note -, given AS Roma’s request to play SSC Napoli on Saturday 27 April and thus postpone the recovery of the 18 minutes of the interrupted match against Udinese until at least mid-May, today urgently called the League council. The board 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 the interruption. 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 envisaged by the Statute and at a time that facilitates the organization of the away match for the host club. The date of the Napoli-Roma match will consequently be set taking into account the needs expressed by AS Roma”.
Nothing communicated about advances and postponements, the League decides to…let Roma decide when to play with Napoli and then organize the rest of the matches. Never happened before. Roma had instead asked the League for the possibility of playing against Udinese later, perhaps coinciding with the recovery of Atalanta-Fiorentina still not fixed, so as not to give advantages to Bayer Leverkusen, already helped by the fact that they have already won the German title. In the letter sent to the Lega Calcio, Roma had also recalled a precedent: Juventus-Napoli on 23 December 2020 which was not recovered on the first available date but on 7 April 2021.
Three clubs say no to the Giallorossi’s request
The League said no after the vote of the Serie A clubs who decided on the refusal to recover in May: according to what filters, the votes of Verona, Atalanta and Empoli are decisive, writes the Corriere dello sport. Other clubs have instead decided to abstain.
Roma’s angry reply
Soon, again in the evening, Roma’s response arrived: “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 others club. 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 oppose this unjustified adversity and to achieve, with the support of their incredible fans, the maximum goals of the season.”
The web unleashed against the League
While the instagram profile of radio serie A was filled with insults for failure to respect the announced times (“shame”, “clowns”, “we have to organize the trips, hurry”) anger erupts on social media, especially among the Roma fans: “League. Resign en masse. Everyone is realizing who you are…”, or: “They make Roma play at 8pm, not even at 6pm so they don’t even sleep” and also: “Gravina is interested in the “Brand“of Italian football thus undertakes to save Juventus, the club that more than any other has tarnished Serie A while Roma, in the fourth consecutive European semi-final, reserves unworthy behavior”
There are those who write: “Italy against the Italians is not possible. The League must respect its members. And protect them. How can the attractiveness of the Serie A brand grow by managing it in this way???” and also: “The League has demonstrated (if there had been any need) the futility of its existence failing to safeguard the good health of the championship through a ridiculous decision…” and again: “They only make exceptions when they want though. The icing on the cake will be having Fiorentina and Atalanta play once the Championship is over” and finally: “Lega, shame on you, but which brands are you protecting?”.
Tags: Lega advances mess decision Roma web unleashed
