Lawyer Grassani: "The chances of Modena-Cagliari being repeated are limited"

The Cagliari fans put their hearts at rest: «The chances of Modena-Cagliari being repeated are limited». It is not a sentence, but the opinion of a sort of jurisconsult of the sector, Mattia Grassani, a lawyer from Bologna who, in the past, defended the rossoblù club. For the second consecutive year, he received the "Milano Finanza Legal Award 2022" as the top sports expert in Italy. Even with the prudence of the case, he tried to clarify from a legal point of view the consequences of Cagliari's appeal after last Friday's match at "Braglia".

Cagliari claims that Zappa was conditioned by the first yellow card (not on the scoresheet) for the rest of the match, believing he was actually booked. What are the chances that the match will be replayed?
«I start by saying that I am currently defending Walter Mazzarri's interests in the employment lawsuit brought by the coach against the Sardinian club following the dismissal ordered by the club, so I could be seen as not very objective by the splendid rossoblù fans, whom I had the honor of serving for over 15 years of presidency of Cellino».

His is however a super partes opinion, as an expert.

«I would say that the margins for replaying the match are limited, first of all because the match report is a privileged source of evidence. Secondly, it is not clear what the damage suffered by the Sardinian club would be, given that, at most, one of its players should have been removed from the pitch and was not».

Could one of the possibilities be that the sports judge receives the referee's admission of error, approves the result and disqualifies Zappa?

"Yes. There is, abstractly, this possibility, but, even in this case, I don't see what effect the technical error could have on the regularity of the race».

In this case, if Zappa were deployed against Benevento on Saturday, could the team from Campania also appeal?

«Very difficult, because in the professional field, unlike the amateur one, the disqualifications become enforceable only after the publication of the Official Statement and, to date, Zappa is not disqualified».

And at this point, would Cagliari do well to take precautions in the League, asking if they can field the player?

«It would be one more scruple, but, frankly, I would consider it superfluous. Zappa has full rights to play the match against Benevento».

In conclusion, what are the possibilities that the appeal will be accepted?

«I would like to answer a lot, I repeat, for my long legal militancy in the land of Sardinia, but, unfortunately, the hopes are close to zero. Furthermore, it is also necessary to verify whether, even before the merits, Cagliari has observed all the procedural formalities failing which the appeal could be declared inadmissible. And here I am silent».