Napoli Owner Asked to Postpone the Super Cup Against Juventus

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis wants to move upcoming Supercoppa versus Juventus, scheduled for January 20th at the Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia, and play it near the end of the season in May, Repubblica and multiple Italian outlets reported today.

The owner indicated his worry for the COVID cases in the area and the fact that fans will not be allowed on the stands as the reasons for the postponements, which were met with surprise by the League that rejected his request. It would be difficult to find a date in May as it would depend on how far both teams go in Europe, moreover the two sides also have yet to find room for the infamous Round 2 game that was originally forfeited.

The Super Cup, which has often been taken place abroad in the past providing substantial earnings, will yield just €2.6M this season, way down form the €5.8M divvied up by Lazio and Juventus last year, as indicated by Calciomercato.com. The League pointed out that they have to honor the contracts with Rai, which will broadcast the event, and Sony that will sponsor it.

Our view

De Laurentiis’ request is not as crazy as it sounds, provided the two teams used the open date to play the pending Serie A match, but the motives are quite weak as the Coronavirus’ numbers in Emilia are not much different from Campania’s ones, or really from the rest of Italy, and unfortunately there are no guarantees stadia will be re-opened even later on in the Spring.