Inter Milan's Serie A match against Bologna, which was unable to field players for the fixture earlier this month due to COVID-19 cases and was handed a 3-0 defeat by default, must be played at a later date, a sports judge who deals with legal cases Italy's top flight ruled on Friday.
Four games in Serie A were farcically abandoned on Jan. 6 when only one team showed up for each of them, due to conflicting instructions from sport and health authorities.
Inter's trip to Bologna was one of those matches, with a COVID-19 outbreak in the home side's squad leading to the local health authority placing the club into quarantine, meaning it could not face champion Inter.
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The league stuck to the original protocol by refusing to officially postpone games where teams had at least 13 players, including a goalkeeper, available. The rules also stated if one side showed up to play, they would be awarded a 3-0 win.
However, sporting judge Gerardo Mastrandrea has decided not to penalise Bologna for failing to play the match, and so the game will be played at a later date this season and Inter will not be awarded the 3-0 default win.
The overall protocol has also changed this week, after sport, health and government bodies agreed that fixtures must be fulfilled unless 35% or more of the players in a squad have tested positive to the virus.
The judge also said a decision on the other games that were postponed on Jan. 6 will take place in the coming weeks.
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