Salernitana’s fight for survival has veered into chaos with a bout of food poisoning hospitalising much of the squad halfway through their showdown with Sampdoria.
The Serie B side, fighting to avoid dropping to Italy’s third tier, have requested a postponement of the second leg of their relegation playoff on Friday because players and coaching staff remain too ill to train.
The drama unfolded on the plane back to Salerno after their 2-0 defeat in the first leg on Sunday, with 21 players and staff struck down, a large part requiring hospital treatment upon disembarking.
“We are truly shocked by what happened and by the series of events that risk jeopardising Salernitana’s smooth and peaceful approach to the final and crucial minutes of the season,” the club chief executive, Maurizio Milan, said in a statement.
The mass sickness has left the southern Italian side in limbo, with the team unable to prepare for a match that could determine their future. After droppingout of Serie Alast season, they face the prospect of consecutive relegations if they cannot overturn their first-leg deficit.
“Many players and staff, at the moment, are not even able to show up at the sports centre to resume training,” Milan said. The club said it had made informal contact with Serie B officials and received “general openness” to evaluating their postponement request. Salernitana have also called for an investigation into the “causes of this widespread and serious episode”.