ROME, Aug 13 (Reuters) - A Naples court on Friday froze
Italy's second division championship and suspended the start of
the Italian Cup following a decision by sporting authorities to
expel Napoli from Serie B.
The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) expelled former
Italian champions Napoli from Serie B on Thursday after the club
was declared bankrupt, ruling it did not have sufficient funds
to play in the league.
However, the Naples court on Friday questioned the legality
of the move and ordered the suspension of the Serie B calendar,
which is due to start on September 11. It also demanded a halt
to four Italian Cup games, including one set for Saturday.
The president of the Italian Football League, Adriano
Galliani, told Ansa news agency that Saturday's game would go
ahead regardless, putting soccer on a collision course with
Italy's Byzantine legal system.
The row goes to the heart of a problem that has plagued
Italian soccer over the last two years -- who controls the game,
the sporting authorities or the law courts?
The Naples court moved after the receivers at Napoli filed
an emergency appeal against the decision to bar the club from
the Serie B fixture list.
The receivers want to sell the team to Luciano Gaucci, a
flamboyant businessman who already owns Serie B club Perugia.
Gaucci says he has the funds to support Napoli but under
FIGC rules, the old club, SSC Napoli, ceased to exist when it
went bankrupt and any club that eventually takes over the
franchise should re-start from a lower division.
HARD TIMES
Napoli were Italian champions in 1987 and 1990 when they
were inspired by Diego Maradona but they fell on hard times when
the Argentine left and their financial woes have finally caught
up with them.
This week's legal wrangles echo similar ructions at the
start of last season that led to three teams relegated from
Serie B being reinstated at the last minute after Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi's government intervened.
The concession came after one team turned to a court in
their home city to overturn their drop from the second division.
To the surprise of no-one, the court ruled in their favour.
The FIGC announced on Thursday that it was promoting Bari
and Pescara to Serie B to replace Napoli and Ancona, another
club recently declared bankrupt.
The four Italian Cup games frozen by the Naples court on
Friday involve Bari and Pescara, but the decision confused
sporting lawyers as their participation in competition has
nothing to do with their newfound league status.
FIGC lawyer Mario Gallavotti told Ansa that the ruling was:
'Clearly wrong, contradictory and dangerous'.
The FIGC is due to meet on September 1 to decide if Napoli
should be inserted into the third division.
