With COVID-19 cases growing throughout Serie A, with just one club unaffected, the next two rounds set for Thursday and the weekend are plunged into doubt, including Juventus vs. Napoli.
The Lega Calcio already postponed the two Serie B rounds that were meant to take place over the Christmas period because of the numerous players infected.
Now there is the real risk of a similar situation occurring in Serie A for the first games of 2022, as there is a round set for Thursday January 6 – marking the traditional Befana public holiday – and another round planned for the weekend.
However, 19 out of 20 Serie A clubs currently have at least one COVID-19 case, the only exception being Lazio.
Napoli coach Spalletti adds to COVID outbreak, Juventus game at risk?
Salernitana have already been ordered into quarantine by the local health authority (ASL) because they have 11 members of the matchday squad infected, including nine players.
They have lodged a formal request to have their game with Venezia postponed, but so far there is no response from the Lega Serie A.
Verona have eight players infected and Spezia four, so their match is a major doubt on Thursday as well.
Udinese announced seven players have tested positive and they are meant to be facing Fiorentina.
It’s not just Thursday, as there is another round planned for the weekend, so two sets of Serie A fixtures could be affected.
At this moment, only Lazio have no current COVID-19 cases, with Cagliari having one (Nahitan Nandez) and Milan two (Ciprian Tatarusanu and an unnamed teammate).
Among the growing outbreaks there is Napoli, who have four players plus coach Luciano Spalletti all testing positive (Mario Rui, Kevin Malcuit, Eljif Elmas, Victor Osimhen and Hirving Lozano).
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the growth of cases is prompting the Naples ASL (local health authority) to consider ordering Napoli into quarantine.
That would ban them from travelling to Turin for the match against Juventus.
Incredibly, the exact same situation took place on October 4, 2020, when the Lega Serie A and Juve stuck to the protocol, refusing to call off the game.
Napoli were initially given an automatic 3-0 defeat and docked one point, but won an appeal that set a legal precedent.
Also because of this precedent, Salernitana have not been given an automatic defeat despite their game with Udinese not being played on December 22.