Napoli was right: the match with Juve will be played

Juventus-Naples will have to be played. The College of Guarantees of the Italian Olympic Committee has annulled the administrative punishment that the Neapolitan club received for refusing to allow its team to travel to Turin to play the match on 3 October. The Neapolitan Local Health Authority (ASL) had ordered him to stay in isolation in the city after detecting some cases of contagion by coronavirus in his staff. However, the Lega explained that there were no reasons for Naples not to move and it contravened the health protocol of the federation. Finally, and after allegations, the administrative sanction for Naples, which consisted of the loss of the match and the withdrawal of a point in the classification, was not withdrawn.

Now the situation has taken a new turn. The College has annulled that decision and January 13 is considered as the date for the dispute of the match. Aurelio Di Laurentiis, Napoli president, has won the legal battle and in recent days had shown his optimism. The situation arises that on January 20 Juventus and Napoli were already going to face each other in the Italian Super Cup, although that meeting, due to circumstances, could be postponed.

The club's attorney azzurro, Mattia Grassani, celebrated the decision on the radio 'Kiss Kiss Napoli': “It is a historic sentence, finally there is justice. They decided that Naples had to lose without playing with Juventus, but it will not be like that.” President De Laurentiis had already been optimistic in the afternoon: “I hope that the game is played and that an unfair decision is canceled. I was forty days in bed with covid, When I saw that two of our players tested positive, it was clear to me that the outbreak could be prolonged. It was a question of social responsibility: I did not want to go to Turin and also infect Juve. I had no reason not to want to play against a team that, with Pirlo, was still under construction. “The southerners, that week, had beaten Genoa 6-0, which, a few days later, became the worst outbreak of covid in Calcium, with more than 20 positives.

Today's decision balances the top spots in the standings. Juventus has 24 points instead of 27, the same as Naples. Both are seven points behind Milan's lead and with one game less: the one that had to be played in October and which, barring surprises, will take place in January. De Laurentiis has won his battle, now it will be up to Gattuso and his boys to imitate them on the field.