The Round 25 of Serie A saw Milan overtake their city rivals Inter and conquer first place in the standings. However, the Nerazzurri still have a game in hand to be played against Bologna, which was canceled on January 6 due to a Covid outbreak among the Bologna lines.
The Italian Sports Court of Appeal rejected Inter’s appeal for a 3-0 forfeit victory, despite the fact that Simone Inzaghi’s team regularly fielded their lineup for 45 minutes. Bologna did not show up at their home Renato Dall’Ara Stadium due the many Covid cases in their roster. They still presented an official list of players by mistake though, creating further controversy.
The Sports Judge decided not to award a 3-0 win to Inter – as is usually done in cases where the opposition fails to show up – because the Local Health Authority of Bologna had ordered the whole team to be quarantined.
The Nerazzurri appealed the decision but saw the initial ruling confirmed. Their match against Bologna will need to played, on a date yet to be determined.
A similar ruling was issued concerning Udinese’s canceled game against Salernitana on December 21. The Granata did not travel to Udine due to the multiple cases recorded among their lines. In this case, Udinese were initially awarded a 3-0 win, which was successfully appealed by Salernitana. The game will also be played on a date to be confirmed.
A few days later, Udinese were heavily defeated by Atalanta (2-6) after not having been authorized to field multiple players who tested positive and having to go many days without training. The Friulani‘s request for the match to be re-played was rejected.