The Sicilians, penalized by 10 points, returned to the field after giving up in the last round against Virtus Bologna and losing the cup match due to abandonment during the week due to being left with only one player. In the event of a second withdrawal they would have been excluded from the championship
The championship match in Trapani lasted four minutes and eleven seconds, the last first leg, against Dolomiti Energia Trento, closed by the referees with a score of 11-26 when the Sicilians were left with only one player on the pitch. Seven of them showed up, of which only three professionals – Rossato, Pugliatti and Sanogo – and four youth players: two already employed in recent days, Patti and Martinelli, and two other debutants, Giacalone and Alberti, three 18-year-olds and a 16-year-old, all with tape on their shirts to cover the name of the previous “owner”. However with the six Italian players required by regulation. Compared to the players who are still under contract, Cappelletti (suspended), Notae (injured), Arcidiacono and Petrucelli are absent.
The match
—
The evening began with emotional applause before the start of the sports hall, albeit with large empty spaces, for the seven players. After the two-ball win by Trento and the first basket scored by Aldridge, Sanogo and Pugliatti asked for immediate changes and reached the locker rooms together with Rossato, who did not enter complaining to the referee that he was approaching due to a stomach ailment. The four boys from the youth team remained on the pitch, amidst the chants of “out, out” from the public. After 3’20” the first of them, Alberti, went off for five fouls, leaving the team with three men. And after 16″ Martinelli also came off, leaving them with two men. When after 4’11” Patti also had to leave due to fouls, and only Giacalone remained on the pitch, at 11-26 the referees declared the match over. At the end, the four boys were embraced first by the opposing coach Cancellieri and then by the public who remained proudly in the stands, many of whom were in tears.
the situation
—
Penalized by 10 points in the standings for four different measures by the sporting justice system (the last two points yesterday), and having lost five players so far, the Sicilians had given up playing the previous Serie A match, away on the Virtus Bologna pitch, sanctioned for this by a 20-0 defeat and a fine of 50 thousand euros. By regulation, the second time you give up a match automatically triggers exclusion from the championship.
the previous one in the cup
—
This week Trapani was playing the first leg of the Basketball Champions League play-in at Hapoel Holon with five players: the match lasted less than seven minutes due to the progressive exit of three players due to injury and then when the fourth had to leave the match due to five fouls and only one remained, the match was interrupted at 38-5. Since it was an elimination series and not a group, defeat by abandonment meant elimination from the cup by regulation.
the departures
—
The first to leave was coach Jasmin Repesa at the end of November, who the club decided to replace with second assistant Alex Latini who, however, cannot go to the bench: according to the rules, an adjustment to the contract is required, but the club was unable to file it due to the blocking of memberships inherited from some executive awards and one of the penalty measures received. Again due to the membership freeze, Trapani did not replace the departing Allen, Ford, Alibegovic, Eboua and Hurt. In each match, for each player less than the twelve mandatory professional contracts, Trapani is sanctioned with a fine of 50 thousand euros: without having replaced these five players, against Trento it will therefore be 250 thousand euros.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED