Inter Milan’s Serie A game against Bologna called off amid chaos and confusion

Serie A is facing serious disruption to its fixture schedule following a spate of Covid-19 outbreaks at Italian clubs.

Inter Milan’s game against Bologna was the first casualty of matchweek 20. On Wednesday, Bologna announced that Gary Medel, Federico Santander, Sydney van Hooijdonk and Emanuel Vignato had returned positive Covid tests and that the relevant authorities had been informed.

On the eve of the game, the Rossoblu issued a statement confirming that they had asked Serie A to postpone Inter’s visit as well as their trip to Cagliari at the weekend. They also stated that the Azienda Unita Sanitaria Locale di Bologna, their local health authority, had ordered the entire squad to quarantine for a minimum of five days and prohibited them from taking part in matches until next week.

Nonetheless, in a situation which played out like a reverse of Napoli’s Covid-enforced no-show at Juventus in October 2020, Inter were left to travel to the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara and found themselves warming up ahead of a game that was never realistically going to be played. Bologna had already announced that the stadium would be closed to the public, meaning Inter went through the motions to a backdrop of empty seats.

In an in-house interview with the club website, Inter CEO Beppe Marotta expressed his frustration at the situation. “First of all we reaffirm the primary objective of all: to safeguard the health of the players, the fans, all those who revolve around this sport,” he said. “Bologna was ready to take the field and they had to submit to the decision of the ASL [local health authority].

“There is no guideline for sport: we need a protocol that limits the remit of the ASL, otherwise these situations will be repeated.

“The issue of the protocol was addressed in the League Council, which will be announced with an official communication. We are faced with a scenario of great confusion and it has been difficult to interpret.

“There are matches postponed and others that will be played: this is because every ASL decides autonomously. So there are cases like that of Bologna vs Inter, which will not be played, or that of Spezia vs Hellas [Verona], which will be played despite 11 positives in the Venetian team.”

Marotta also called for talks with the Italian government and relevant ministries, adding: “I certainly hope for the introduction of a full vaccination obligation for all players. If all players had the third dose, the spread of the virus and damage to health would be severely limited. Today we have a scenario that means we do not know what the end will look like. I hope all athletes have the full vaccine.

“The fourth wave caught us off guard, some leagues postponed matches, others did not. The situation is difficult to assess. The postponement of these rounds would have ensured a more fluid management [of the situation], but then the calendar would have been very compressed. It would have been really difficult to find days of recovery.”

Napoli inadvertently set a precedent last season when they were unable to travel to an away game against Juventus in October owing to Covid restrictions imposed by their local health authority. While the game was initially treated as a forfeit and Juventus were awarded a 3-0 win, Napoli successfully appealed the verdict and the match was then rescheduled.

With Covid outbreaks at several other Serie A clubs, Inter may not be alone in making a wasted trip across the country. Torino, Udinese and Salernitana have also been ordered into quarantine, meaning their games against Atalanta, Fiorentina and Venezia respectively look almost certain to go the same way as Inter’s visit to Emilia-Romagna.