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Fri May 18 14:34:25 SAST 2012

Conte fumes as Parma-Juve match called off due to snow

Sapa-AFP | 01 February, 2012 08:340 Comments
Parma FC v Juventus FC  - Serie A
General views ahead the Serie A match between Parma and Juventus at Stadio Ennio Tardini on January 31, 2012 in Parma, Italy
Image by: Claudio Villa / Getty Images

Serie A leaders Juventus’ trip to Parma on Tuesday night was called off less than an hour before kick-off due to heavy snow making areas in and around the stadium too dangerous.

The decision was taken after consultation between the two side’s captains, the referee, the local Prefect and security officials.

Juve coach Antonio Conte was furious, though.

“It’s impossible given the resources available to us today that we have to postpone such a match, we could have played at 3pm,” he fumed.

“Now we’re obliged to spend a 10-hour journey returning home and then we’ll have to come back to Parma, who knows when, to play this game.”   

Juve general manager Giuseppe Marotta said Italian football needs to follow his club’s lead and build some modern facilities —  this season the Old Lady of Turin became the first club in Italy to  build their own stadium.

“It’s absurd that we play in such obsolete and run down stadiums,” he moaned.

“It’s time for the politicians to get moving and promote the new  laws on stadiums.

“It’s not possible to keep postponing matches.”  

Teams are generally put off from building their own stadiums due to the huge amount of red tape involved in gaining permission to do so.

It means they all rent stadiums, many of which were built or refurbished for the 1990 World Cup, from their local councils.

Parma chief executive Pietro Leonardi, however, said he agreed with the decision.

“At 8pm (1900GMT) I accepted the decision. It wasn’t possible to  play,” he told SkySport. “At 6pm I was convinced we could play, but maybe that was too soon to understand whether it was possible.

“We understood there were difficulties when we started uncovering the pitch.”

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