Serie A finish in chaos, worsened by clash with Italian Open tennis final

Serie A hit by final weekend chaos multiplied by Italian Open men’s tennis final booked in same venue as Rome derby.Italian football is facing another embarrassment to add to the country’s failure to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup.With just three days to go until the start of the penultimate round of Serie A fixtures, Italy’s top-flight league, half the teams do not know when their matches will be played.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4All you need to know as Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano finally face-offlist 2 of 4NBA Playoff semis: Cavaliers rally late, beat Pistons for 3-2 leadlist 3 of 4Jason Collins, first openly gay active NBA player, dies at 47list 4 of 4‘Love you, from Gaza’: Fans, athletes hail Yamal’s Palestine flag waveend of listThe Rome derby is at the core of the issue as it was originally slated to kick off at 12:30pm (10:30 GMT) on Sunday, along with four other matches involving teams competing for a Champions League berth.Because the race for the final three Champions League spots – behind newly crowned champion Inter Milan – is so tight, the games featuring Napoli, Juventus, AC Milan, Roma and Como all have to be played simultaneously to ensure fairness.However, the Italian Open men’s singles tennis final is scheduled for 5pm (15:00 GMT) at Rome’s Foro Italico, in the same complex as the Stadio Olimpico and, because of fears of public safety, local authorities have ordered the derby to be moved to Monday evening.Because of the disruption that would cause to thousands of fans of the 10 teams involved, the Lega Serie A proposed an alternative: kicking off at 12pm (10:00 GMT) and pushing back the start of the tennis to 5:30pm (15:30 GMT).That was rejected by Roman authorities, and so the Italian league’s governing body lodged a formal appeal with the Regional Administrative Tribunal (TAR) on Wednesday night.Lazio coach Maurizio Sarri was asked about the matter on Wednesday, after his team’s loss to Inter in the Italian Cup final, and he blamed the Lega Serie A, adding that he would not even turn up at the stadium if the derby was played on Sunday.