Napoli coach Gennaro Gattuso was absent from the post-match press conference on Monday night after his team defeated Sampdoria 4-2 in Serie A due to his sister being taken to hospital.
The place of the 42-year-old was taken by his assistant Luigi Riccio but the absence of the head coach was not for football reasons.
According to Il Mattino, Gattuso was notified by his wife that his sister had been ill and she was sent to hospital in Busto Arsizio, a town over 30 kilometres west of Milan in northern Italy.
The victory against Sampdoria was Napoli’s third consecutive win in all competitions after recently eliminating Lazio from the Coppa Italia and defeating Juventus in the previous round of Serie A action.
After 22 rounds, Napoli share ninth spot with Hellas Verona and Bologna in the Italian league table with 30 points, but the Veronese side have a game in hand and face Lazio on Wednesday evening.
