Torino failed to arrive at the Stadio Olimpico on Tuesday evening for their scheduled Serie A fixture against Lazio.
Lazio’s players and the refereeing team did arrive at the stadium as planned, despite knowing that the Granata were almost 600 kilometres away
Toro were refused permission to travel by Piemonte’s ASL – the local health authority – and were forced into a period of quarantine that will last until midnight on Tuesday. That is, crucially, after their game at Lazio, which was scheduled for 18:30 CET.
As many as eight positive cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed by Torino, and there is increased concern around the club as the virus is the highly-contagious variant that originated in England. The situation also led to their game against Sassuolo last Friday being postponed.
Juventus’ game against Napoli in October saw the same situation unfold. Napoli were denied permission to travel, and the Bianconeri were then handed a walkover win as well as the Partenopei receiving a one-point deduction for failing to present themselves for the match.
That decision was eventually overturned, though, and the game is set to be replayed at a date that is still to be confirmed.
Following the debacle earlier in the campaign, each team were afforded some room to maneuver and were to be allowed to rearrange one game due to a coronavirus outbreak. However, the reduced number of days between games, with Round 25 coming midweek and just five days after Torino’s last scheduled game, appears to have come as an unexpected complication for Lega Serie A.
