Lazio’s tampon chaos continues to shake Serie A. On Sunday, the Biancocelesti will be protagonists against Juventus, but the last round of tampons found three positives. And the FIGC has opened an investigation since 3 November to ascertain any violations of the protocol: the sanctions range from a simple fine to exclusion from the championship, even if the hypothesis that is the most popular would seem that of a penalty point, always if violations will be ascertained and blame will be charged. Let’s try to retrace the main stages of the story.
October 27 – Bruges Eve and the outbreak hypothesis – On the eve of the match against Club Brugge, the biancoceleste team shows up for morning training without Luis Alberto, Immobile, Pereira, Lucas Leiva, Lazzari, Cataldi, Luiz Felipe, Strakosha, Djavan Anderson and Armini. The hypothesis of an outbreak is immediately triggered, without official communications from the club. Immobile, Luis Alberto, Lazzari, Djavan Anderson and Andreas Pereira undergo a new swab, at the Synlab (a laboratory entrusted by Uefa), but none of the interested parties leave for Belgium.
October 28 – Pereira joins the team, Immobile out – The young Portuguese midfielder, with a false positive result, reaches the team and plays the second half in full. The other five remain in Italy: still no communication from Lazio.
31 October – Immobile returns to the team – The club submits the team to a new round of swabs at the Futura Diagnostica laboratory in Avellino (on the 30th and 31st). In addition to long-term residents Vavro and Escalante, Djavan Anderson, Lazzari and Luis Alberto are also out. Immobile and Leiva thus join the team, as does Strakosha: the latter remains on the bench with Torino the following November 1st, while the Brazilian and the striker take the field in the second half, Immobile scores from a penalty.
November 3 – Immobile, Leiva and Strakosha out in the Champions League. The FIGC opens an investigation – New cycle of tampons, again at the Synlab. The three remain in Rome and do not follow the team in the Russian away match of the Champions League. The football association, at this point, officially opens an investigation “to ascertain any violations of the health protocols aimed at containing the epidemic of Covid-19 approved by the FIGC and validated by the Government Authority, also in light of the alternating positivity of players such as Property , Leiva and Strakosha, available for the league matches and stopped for presumed positivity instead by UEFA. “In the evening a statement from Lazio finally arrives, which for the first officially confirms the positive feedback between team members, but makes it known that having “detected possible critical issues in relation to the results obtained by the European organization.” The sanctions, if the investigation were to ascertain violations of the protocol, would potentially be very severe: they range from a simple fine to exclusion from the championship.
4 November – Laboratory confirms: same positives as UEFA detected – Massimiliano Taccone, president of the board of directors of the Avellino laboratory to which Lazio relies, intervenes: “Unlike the vast majority of laboratories, we analyze 3 genes and not just the 2 classic genes. Among these 3, there is a gene of the coronavirus family which is not specific to Covid-19. So, with our laboratories, we reported the positive gene, but this is not a gene that infects. The UEFA laboratory redid the swab and also confirmed our result there ”. Subsequently, Taccone himself clarifies: “Negatives in the field with Turin. Of the 3 who did not leave for Russia, only one positive ”.
November 5 – Luis Alberto negative, the case breaks the A – The good news arrives on the social networks of the Spaniard, who finally declares himself negative. In the meantime, however, the story splits Serie A: Torino writes to the prosecutor, as well as to the FIGC and the Lega, to clarify the matter. In the meantime, Immobile and his teammates are preparing for a new round of swabs, while Lazio, through the social media, thunders: “Immobile is not a smearer. We are right, Uefa uniforms the tests”.
November 6 – Three positives after the new tampons – Before the match against Juventus, Lazio also relies on another analysis center, that of the Biomedical Campus in Rome. The outcome is the story of the last few hours: three positives emerge, not yet officially confirmed by Lazio, even if the lights are inevitably focused on the absent players against Zenit. On the other hand, a different cycle of swabs (molecular and not just rapid tests) carried out in Avellino would have instead found the negativity of all the members of the team. The bianconeri remain at the window and do not officially intervene, but informally let it be known that they expect the rigorous application of the FIGC protocol.
– .
