Quite the most surreal spectacle unfolding in Italy right now as Juventus prepare as normal - team bus to the stadium, starting XI posted on Twitter - to face a Napoli team that everybody knows is not going to show up, seeing as they are still back home in Naples.
For those who haven't been following: Napoli did not travel because 2 members of their first-team squad have tested positive for covid since they faced a Genoa team that has had (at last count) 17 players test positive. At the time when those teams played, Genoa had 2
Napoli's owner, Aurelio De Laurentiis says his team is following the instructions of local health authorities by staying put and isolating. But the Italian Football Federation's rules follow Uefa's in saying that if you have 13 healthy players, including a keeper, you can play
There's still a lot of misinformation flying around at this point. But both teams appear to be doing what they think they should, following contradicting protocols set by authorities with very different priorities.
In theory, when Juventus line up and Napoli don't, the win should automatically be awarded to Juventus. In practice, it's hard to imagine this thing ending quietly. My expectation is appeals, and potentially a court process but that's just a best guess really. We'll see.
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