Lega Serie A President Ezio Maria Simonelli defends himself in opposition to bitter criticism of the fixture listing adjustments, together with forcing Lecce to play Atalanta simply days after the demise of their physiotherapist. ‘We needed to defend the equity of the league.’
The Serie A Week 33 and 34 fixtures had been utterly remodeled by a sequence of unforeseeable occasions, above all of the demise of Pope Francis.
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This noticed video games referred to as off over the times of nationwide mourning, then once more on Saturday for his funeral.
There was quite a lot of criticism over these adjustments too, particularly the
“We consider the Lega Serie A made the alternatives that had been technically most right,”
“The mantra have to be to play as quickly as doable and the primary date was Wednesday, so we performed all of them collectively seeing because the Coppa Italia was later that night.
“Let it’s clear, I by no means would’ve dreamed of enjoying similtaneously the funeral of the Holy Father. However that was Saturday afternoon, so Inter vs. Roma might’ve been performed within the night. In accordance with the 2 golf equipment, we determined to maneuver it to Sunday. Personally, I’d’ve most well-liked to let Inter play on Saturday to ensure them extra relaxation forward of the Champions League semi-final with Barcelona.”
Lecce livid with Lega Serie A response to mourning
BERGAMO, ITALY – APRIL 27: US Lecce gamers put on a particular shirt in reminiscence of US Lecce physiotherapist Graziano Fiorita throughout the Serie A match between Atalanta BC and US Lecce at Gewiss Stadium on April 27, 2025 in Bergamo, Italy. (Photograph by Marco Luzzani/Getty Photographs)
The opposite scenario that precipitated controversy was the Week 34 fixture between Atalanta and Lecce, which had initially been scheduled for Friday, however Lecce physiotherapist Graziano Fiorita died all of a sudden within the group lodge on Thursday.
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The membership had wished extra time to cope with the surprising scenario and the lack of a person who had been an integral a part of their employees for over 25 years, however had been ordered to play on Sunday night.
They protested with a robust assertion and by
“I believe the Lega Serie A confirmed nice sensibility coping with the loss that affected Lecce and the Fiorita household,” insisted Simonelli.
“We instantly referred to as off and needed to reprogramme the sport. I gained’t say ‘the present should go on,’ however we’re the Lega Serie A: we should preserve soccer going and make sure the league is as honest as doable. We tried to do the whole lot doable, however we nonetheless needed to defend the equity of the league. We couldn’t additional postpone a match that was so related for each the Champions League locations and Serie A security.
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“I say it’s straightforward to criticise from the sofa at house, however we took the perfect selections doable, respecting the mourning of Lecce and the household, but in addition respecting the hundreds of thousands of soccer followers who want a good league.
“In different sports activities, they go forward even when there are tragic occasions. I keep in mind Michael Schumacher took half in a Grand Prix a day after his mom had died. I keep in mind the race went forward at Imola after Ayrton Senna died on the observe. We did the whole lot doable and I due to this fact reject any criticism.”