|
After a three week winter break everyone was excitedly and impatiently waiting for Italian football to restart. The first match scheduled was a Serie B encounter between Sassuolo and Brescia, to be played at the Stadio Braglia in Modena on the evening of Friday January 9.
Yet 90 minutes before kick-off, with both teams already at the stadium ready to do battle, the match was postponed. Although the groundsheets had indeed protected the turf from the snow, water had filtered through, freezing the pitch and transforming it from a field of grass into a dangerous ice arena.
It was hardly surprising for most of us here on the peninsula. January nights are cold and Modena, after all, is in northern Italy where the temperature often drops below zero. As a result, there is a high probability of an icy pitch awaiting both sides.
It raises an obvious question – was it really impossible for the Lega to predict such problems when deciding on the night games for Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Or is it television as usual that decides, picking winter evening games in cities such as Milan, Turin and Verona?
Pay TV is, after all, the largest financial contributor to the clubs and even in the event of a new Ice Age will always want Milan, Inter and Juventus live at 20.30 local time if possible from August until May.
Let’s see what happens in the next batch of northern night games such as Milan-Fiorentina on January 17, Inter-Sampdoria on January 25 and Juventus-Cagliari on January 31 – all to be played at 20.30. And not forgetting this week’s Coppa games. Expect ice, expect the threat of postponement.
|
