Lega Serie A president Lorenzo Casini addressed the media following an emergency board meeting held in conjunction with today’s assembly. The main topic of discussion was the postponement of the Bologna-Milan match to a date yet to be determined.
Casini expressed surprise at the mayor’s ordinance, stating, “We were surprised by the mayor’s ordinance: generally, these decisions are made by the prefect. Moreover, a dialogue was opened because the premise in the ordinance is the presence of 35,000 people at the stadium.”
He explained the decision-making process, saying, “The municipality was not willing to hold the match behind closed doors. The choice became whether to impose a neutral field 24 hours in advance, forcing it on both teams, or to respect the ordinance of an authority recognized by law and postpone the match.”
Regarding future precautions, Casini emphasized, “What is certain is that in the future we will all have to be careful and evaluate every possible alternative. For us, closed doors could have been practicable, but it’s also true that the situation in the region, particularly in Bologna, has been particularly difficult.”
When asked about rescheduling the match, Casini revealed, “At the moment, looking at the calendar, February is the month when it will be possible to reschedule the match. There would be Christmas Day as a hypothesis, but we are evaluating. Moving Verona-Milan? No, because it would lead to a chain of moves. As a League, we can’t do much.”
Casini also addressed the possibility of using a neutral field, explaining, “It is not provided for by the system, in the face of an administrative act that prevents reaching the facility for public safety. It’s not to say that it can’t be done; it’s to be evaluated in the future. There is a series of decisions that risked being a series of complications. Milan had given availability; for Bologna it would have been complicated.”
In a lighter moment, Casini joked about potentially rescheduling the match on Christmas Day, saying, “There would be Christmas Day as a hypothesis, but we are evaluating.”
