Serie A: ‘Ready to play Roma, Milan, Juventus, Como games on Sunday at 12.30’

Lega Serie A President Luigi De Siervo confirms Roma-Lazio, Genoa-Milan, Juventus-Fiorentina and Como-Parma might all kick off on Sunday May 17 at 11.30 UK time (12.30 CEST).

The penultimate round of the Serie A season is this weekend, but we still don’t know the dates or kick-off times for any of the matches.

As a general rule, the final two sets of games have teams competing for the same target playing simultaneously to ensure fairness, as knowing the other side’s result could give an advantage.

Considering how close the fight for the top four is turning out to be, this could involve Milan, Juventus, Roma and Como.

“We are trying to balance all the requirements, from public safety to the Final of the Italian Open tennis tournament, to fairness in playing the games simultaneously,” Serie A President De Siervo told GR Parlamento Radio RAI.

“I am convinced that the solution for those games on Sunday at 12.30 would be in the interests of everyone.”

As luck would have it, the Italian Open is hosted at the Foro Italico, which is right next to the Stadio Olimpico, meaning there would be a huge number of people in the area.

The Men’s Singles Final is scheduled for the afternoon of Sunday May 17.

Another alternative would be to move all these Serie A games to Monday at 18.00 CEST (17.00 UK time), but that would infuriate the TV companies who feel it is a worse slot for their broadcasts.

It could also irritate people who might otherwise be at work when the games are getting ready to kick off.

Meanwhile, if Napoli fail to beat Bologna tonight, they too could get dragged into the fight for the top four, and therefore also have to play earlier.