October 10, (THEWILL) – Napoli owner, Aurelio De Laurentiis, has called for the Italian Super Cup to be moved back to Italy rather than played in Saudi Arabia, as currently scheduled. De Laurentiis cited safety concerns amid the outbreak of conflict between Israel and Hamas.
The Super Cup is set to take place in Saudi Arabia in January and feature last season’s top two Serie A teams, Napoli and Lazio, along with the Italian Cup finalists Inter Milan and Fiorentina. Earlier reports suggested Napoli and Fiorentina could boycott the Saudi tournament, but De Laurentiis said he simply wants the competition moved back to Italy.
“Have you seen what’s going on in Israel?” De Laurentiis queried rhetorically. “There could be an air blockade over those areas. How can you even think of putting 120 players who are worth what they are worth on a plane?”
Before this season, the Super Cup featured the Serie A champions against the Italian Cup winners. The revamped four-team format mirrors a similar change made to the Spanish Super Cup. The Super Cup was originally scheduled for 4-8 January in Saudi Arabia but has been pushed back to 21-25 January following a request from Saudi authorities. Serie A, who organise the tournament, have reshuffled league fixtures to accommodate the new dates.
Over 3,000 people have died amid the outbreak of violence between Israel and Hamas since Saturday when hundreds of Hamas militants in Gaza launched surprise attacks on Israel. De Laurentiis stated he did not want to boycott the Saudi tournament but believed it would be safer to stage it at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome given the tensions in the Middle East.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
