Juventus vs Napoli verdict possibilities.

The Sports Tribunal next week will give the verdict on Juventus-Napoli.

What are the possibilities and what are the articles which the Tribunal will take into consideration?

Well, the possibilities are essentially two:

1) 3-0 by default and a minimum of 1 point deduction

2) Game is rescheduled.

Neither of these is technically definitive because there could be appeals by the FA or Napoli to the Sporting Court of Appeal. The articles that will be taken into consideration for judging will most likely be Art. 53, 54 and 55 of the FIGC Organizational Rules.

Undoubtfully, the first article that will be contemplated is art 54.

Art. 54, par. 1: The teams must appear on the field at the time set for the start of the game.

This, of course, is the first violation that will be observed by the Tribunal because the away team did not show up for the game.

Since one of the teams renounced to play the game, the next article taken into consideration will almost automatically be art. 53.

Art. 53, par. 2: The club that renounces the dispute of a match suffers the loss of the match with a score of 0-3 and a 1 point deduction without prejudice to the application of further and different penalties.

So at the moment, it seems to be all clear for a 3-0 by default. So why did the Sports Tribunal postpone the decision? Well, because of Art. 55 comes into play:

Art. 55, par. 1: Teams that do not appear on the field are considered to have renounced to the dispute of the match with the consequences provided for by art. 53, unless they prove the existence of reasons of force majeure. The last sentence says it all: reasons of force majeure.

And that, together with the FA protocol, is the crux of the matter.