Lazio lawyer Gian Michele Gentile provided an update regarding the Biancocelesti’s inconsistent Covid-19 testing case.
Speaking in an interview with Italian radio broadcaster Radio Incontro Olympia (via LazioNews24) last night, the Italian lawyer spoke about the accusation made against the Roman club and president Claudio Lotito.
The initial accusation that the prosecutor’s office made, which is the one that then resulted in the most serious impact for Lotito and the doctors, is that of having “hidden” the results of the tests, that is, not having communicated them to the local health authority and having allowed the players to go around undisturbed.
As we have demonstrated and as recognised by the CONI’s Collegio di Garanzia, the discipline of COVID is a matter of public health and it is the State that must concern itself with quarantines, not the team doctor who must impose isolation provisions.
The Lazio doctor who performs the tests must inform the public health department and these communications occur continuously, since there is still a very detailed bulletin on the National data.
This lack of communication, charged against Lazio, fell because the CONI Board of Guarantee went to read the rules.
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The Lazio lawyer touched on the involvement of star striker Ciro Immobile and squad player Djavan Anderson.
The second aspect is regarding Immobile, on the field against Torino, and Djavan Anderson, on the bench against Juventus.
Also in this case, the Collegio di Garanzia has imposed a technical aspect: the reliability of some tests has been questioned, which depends on the type of reagent used and the way in which the tests are taken.
In the case of Immobile, two tests taken half an hour apart, one positive and one negative. In the case of Immobile and Anderson, a report was sent to the local health authority in which Dr. Pulcini reported these contrasts, with Immobile having one positive and four negative tests from Tuesday to Saturday.
The local health authority certified the false positive and decided not to proceed.
Gentile discussed the media attacks on the Roman club from the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Before the summer, the director of the Gazzetta dello Sport wrote an unacceptable article and has already been sued.
The most recent article is just as unacceptable, it said that Immobile played as a positive and in addition there were allusions about judges, something that often happens when a judicial decision is not appreciated.
If the editor has written falsehoods it is normal that he is taken to court. Journalists have the right to report and to criticise and when they do so in a correct manner this right is absolutely respected, when it goes beyond the lawful, the criminal protection is obviously triggered.
We have waited for the CONI College, the highest judicial authority in sports, to express its opinion before taking our steps.
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Finally, Gentile spoke about the general types of attacks that Lazio receive from multiple different angles.
Everyone can see that Lazio is under attack, the League is constantly making statements about Sarri when, in the derby, I saw another coach enter the field to retrieve balls.
A hostility towards Lazio can be perceived and it also comes from the Federation because the president has never hidden this hostility towards Lotito, who should not have been recklessly removed from the Federal Council and also from this point of view there will be work to do.
Lazio president Lotito and doctors Ivo Pulcini and Fabio Rodia will be in the Court of Appeal later this month, with the CONI Collegio di Garanzia accepting elements of their respective appeals.
The case has dragged on for almost a whole year now, with it initially stemming from incidents in late October and early November last year.
