Hectic day, the TAR not deciding on Roma-Lazio, tennis president Binaghi’s push but in the end the Prefecture accepts: leaving football where it was placed was possible.
Sensational turnaround, the Lega Calcio Serie A was right: the Rome-Lazio Olimpico derby and the matches connected to it can be played on Sunday at lunchtime without there being any preclusions for public order. Kick-off at 12so as to gain space and time compared to the final of the Internazionali d’Italia scheduled in the nearby Foro Italico for 5pm in the presence (hopefully) of Jannik Sinner and under the eyes of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella.
The outcome of yet another day of frenetic negotiations is surprising but also demonstrates how much time has been wasted amidst controversies and confrontation. The League and the Prefecture of Rome reached an agreement at the last minute after the Lazio Regional Administrative Court had decided not to decide, spending the dispute with the State Attorney’s Office so that he would take charge of mediating between the positions. The appeal urgently presented by via Rosellini, therefore, had been neither accepted nor rejected. The last meeting at dinner time led to the final choice.
Together with the Rome derby there will also be the other Champions League matches
At the same time – Sunday 17 May starting at 12 – the matches of the teams involved in the fight for the Champions League are also scheduled: Juventus-Fiorentina, Genoa-Milan, Como-Parma and Pisa-Napoli. The rest of the calendar for the 37th day of the championship remains unchanged.
To change the opinion of those responsible for public order, who were stuck until the evening of the Italian Cup final in denying any opening to the Lega Serie A, the protest announced by Roma ultras. The idea of having both fans outside the Olympic stadium at the same time, a few tens of meters away (the Lazio one does not challenge president Lotito), in a match scheduled at that point in the evening of a weekday, led to new reflections. In essence, much less risky on Sunday than this new scenario.
The (rejected) proposals of the League and a day wasted
The paradox is that the solution, moving back the start time for football and possibly moving forward that of tennis, had been suggested in vain by the leaders of the Lega Serie A and ran into a wall of denials. The agreement which was there for all to see already on the Wednesday afternoon of the Italian Cup final was left outside the door of the negotiation room only to be readmitted a day later through the window. So it became the only possible solution.
Having the derby at night and with the fans outside the Olimpico had become too dangerous. This is also why the Lazio Regional Administrative Court did not comment, involving the State Attorney’s Office. And here we found the Prefecture of Rome, Lega Serie A, the Roman clubs, Sport and Health and Federtennis which, with contemptuous words, had, throughout the day, blamed the problem on its football colleagues. Thus the number one of Fitp, Angelo Binaghi: “I don’t think the ATP will move the final because the football calendar is made with the feet.” In any case, in the end he had to accept cohabitation.
The stance taken by organized Roma fan groups had also pushed the Giallorossi club to take action to bring the derby back to Sunday. And now? In any case, teams and fans have suffered clear damage, the former in the preparation of fundamental competitive commitments and the latter due to the uncertainty in planning their presence in the stadiums. In fact we have returned to the starting point, the one written in the official press release of the Lega Calcio Serie A on Monday, with the correction on the time of the kick-off. A mess that could have been avoided but whose responsibility is difficult to attribute only to those who wrote the calendar.
Article being updated
