Salernitana director of sport Angelo Fabiani reveals the club had made contingency plans to stick with the Serie A COVID protocol, ‘but if the authorities ban you from travelling, what are we supposed to do?’
The game was meant to kick off at 17.30 GMT, but Salernitana didn’t make the trip because they were ordered into self-isolation by the local health authority (ASL).
The Lega Serie A did not officially postpone the match, because two or three cases do not activate their protocol, but the ASL over-rules them.
Udinese vs. Salernitana the same case as Juventus vs. Napoli
“Yesterday two players tested positive, plus a third this morning had some symptoms that could be linked to COVID, so we sent him home,” explained Fabiani.
“The results of the tests go automatically to the ASL, who noted the situation and absolutely banned us from getting on the plane towards Udine on Monday.
“We booked a charter for the next morning to take all those who tested negative, but the ASL sent us a message noting we were absolutely banned from travelling, as everyone who was in direct contact with the positive players had to go into quarantine.
“It’s not up to us, we paid for the plane tickets and put down a deposit on the charter, so we are losing money with this. If the authorities ban you from travelling, what are we supposed to do?”
It is likely this will follow the same pattern as Juventus vs. Napoli from last year, when Napoli were initially given an automatic 3-0 defeat and docked one point.
They won their case on appeal and the game had to be replayed.
#Salernitana, #Fabiani: ‘Avevamo il charter pronto per Udine. Fermati da un’autorità, non è colpa nostra’ https://t.co/wHmDJ0aq3Z pic.twitter.com/Bh3EWp0WZ5
— calciomercato.com (@cmdotcom) December 21, 2021