Sangiovannese-Grosseto, Grassani: “Bachelors against married”

“It was a match of singles against married”. The lawyer Mattia Grassani does not use half terms to describe the events of Sangiovannese-Grosseto on 20 March, in Serie D. The doors of the Fedini stadium are about ten centimeters lower, the guests notice it and ask remedy the attendants dig a ditch with spades and rakes along the entire goal line and around the posts. The referee gives the ok to play, the match starts more than half an hour late but in time to be played. On the field it ends 1-1, but the challenge continues before the sports judge. Because Grosseto is not satisfied with the solution implemented by the home team and presents an appeal. “By April 2, we will file the defense briefs, including images. The judge’s ruling is expected two days later,” explains the lawyer.

THE SCENARIOS

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“There are three possibilities: the confirmation of the result, the repetition of the match and the 0-3 at the table” continues Grassani. A lot will depend on the referee’s report and on the testimony that will in all likelihood be requested from him by the sports judge. “There will be a report supplement, given the particularity of the situation. It is therefore easy that further clarifications are needed. At that point the referee’s opinion will weigh a lot, who may or may not argue that there were conditions to play”. The lawyer’s opinion is quite clear: “Digging as Sangiovannese did does not represent a solution to the problem from a regulatory point of view. A trench was made in the door, which was not even uniform: there were points where the height was 2.44 meters and others where it was 2.42. Furthermore, even when digging, there cannot be a difference in level with the rest of the field. This is why we argue that the match did not take place properly.”

THE FRAMES

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Grosseto will not be able to submit the videos that have gone viral on the net to the judge. “The use of videos is strictly envisaged only in certain circumstances such as blasphemous expressions, simulation, the violent act that escaped the referee or to demonstrate that it has not been committed. So we produced still images, from which we can deduce that a competition was played between the singles and the married” explains Grassani. It is not surprising to him that there is no jurisprudence to refer to at this level. “There have been similar episodes but in regional leagues, not from Serie D up. This confirms that it is a truly rare circumstance in the national context and the judge will have to reflect on this too. It will be a sentence destined to create a precedent for such cases” concludes the lawyer.