Schedule chaos: Napoli, Juventus, Milan and Como left in limbo, decision in 24 hours

The exact dates and times for the next round of Serie A fixtures has not yet been confirmed, the likes of Napoli, Juventus, Milan and Como have been left in limbo and now, the league is launching an urgent appeal in the courts in order to get to the bottom of the matter.

The Serie A scheduling issue centres around the upcoming Derby della Capitale between Roma and Lazio.

The derby had originally been scheduled for Sunday, March 17, but that is also the date of the men’s final of the Italian open, which will be played at Foro Italico, the same site that houses the Stadio Olimpico.

This is a security and safety concern given that around 100,000 supporters are expected to attend between the two events. There is also a matter of a visit from Italian President Sergio Mattarella at the Italian Open, which in itself requires considerable police and security resources.

The added complication is that Roma are still in the mix for a spot in next season’s Champions League.

Given that the derby will be played in the penultimate round of 2025-26 Serie A fixtures, and given that there are five teams still battling it out for three Champions League spots, matches involving Napoli, Juventus, Milan, Roma and Como will have to be played at the same time to ensure competitive fairness.

And, to add the cherry on top, Lazio are involved in Wednesday night’s Coppa Italia final, which means that the Rome derby cannot be played on Saturday as it is too close to the cup final.

So, the original decision taken by the league was for the Roma vs. Lazio derby to be played on Sunday, May 17 at 11.30 BST. This, however, did not please either side, nor the local authorities, and now, the prefecture of Rome has ordered for the game to be moved to Monday night at 19.45 BST.

That means that Pisa vs. Napoli, Como vs. Parma, Genoa vs. Milan and Juventus vs. Fiorentina will have to be moved to the same Monday evening kick-off slot as well.

Now, according to updates from SportMediaset and various other outlets, the Lega Serie A is preparing an urgent appeal to the regional administrative courts (TAR), which will give its response within 24 hours of the complaint.

For now, with just a few days before the next round of Serie A fixtures is due to kick off, the schedule remains completely up in the air.