Covid fears ahead of City’s big Euro clash with Napoli

NAPOLI HEALTH OFFICIAL QUESTIONS WHETHER TIE AT CITY SHOULD BE PLAYED

ONE of Naples’ top health officials has questioned whether the Europa League tie between Leicester City and Napoli should go ahead next week, writes Jordan Blackwell.

Antonio D’Amore, director of health authority ASL Napoli 2 Nord, has said there are question marks over next Thursday’s fixture at the King Power Stadium given the UK government’s coronavirus restrictions.

As things stand, Napoli are likely to have several players unavailable for the game – including goalkeeper David Ospina and striker Victor Osimhen.

After after representing their countries in red-list territories over the international break, they would be required to isolate for 10 days upon arrival in the UK, even though they will return to amberlist Italy first.

It is an issue that has hit Premier League clubs, who have banned players from travelling to red-list countries with their international teams with the government not granting exemptions to footballers.

At City, Kelechi Iheanacho, Wilfred Ndidi, Patson Daka, Daniel Amartey and Caglar Soyuncu have all been affected by the issue, and have been unable to play in all of their nation’s fixtures.

Last season, when Napoli had two players test positive for Covid19, they acted on the guidance of the local health authority and did not travel to Turin for a Serie A game with Juventus.

The game was not abandoned, with Serie A rejecting the health authority’s guidance, and so the Juventus squad turned up but with no opponent to play.

Napoli were initially given a 3-0 defeat and deducted a point, but that was later overturned when the game was eventually played six months later.

Speaking this week, D’Amore told Radio Punto Nuovo: “There are various Napoli players who have to return from the red zones, and according to the English protocol they could not play. Will Leicester-Napoli be suspended?

“This is not a question you should ask me but the British authorities.

“I think all players are vaccinated and when they come back from the red zones the workers’ protocol must be applied.

“Our behavior was correct on the Juve-Napoli case, we never regretted it.

“There must be more attention, we are coming out of a season in which it was played behind closed doors and seeing the SwitzerlandItaly game, where fans were without a mask, is a very serious matter.”

This week, Uefa lifted restrictions on away fans attending Europa League games, with decisions on whether supporters can be granted entry now made by authorities in each country.