Shocked by the football match with the score 20-0
AC Cuneo won an incredible victory against Pro Piacenza, who could only field seven players.
The match took place in the latest round of Group A, Serie C (Third Division) Italy on February 17.
With the first team and coaching staff on strike over unpaid wages since August 2018, Pro Piacenza had to field a squad of just seven players. Six of them were youth players. The other was a physiotherapist brought in after a player forgot his ID card. Cirigliano, who was only 18, had to register as captain and coach.
Piacenza (red and black shirts) had only seven players on the field against Cuneo. |
With a four-man deficit, Pro Piacenza quickly lost by 16 goals in the first half. AC Cuneo added four more in the second half and secured an unprecedented victory. Hicham Kanis and Edoardo Defendi were the top scorers with six and five goals respectively.
Before the match against AC Cuneo, Pro Piacenza had already forfeited three other matches due to a lack of players (all of which were awarded 0-3 losses). If this streak were to increase to four matches, according to the regulations of the Italian Football Federation, the team would be automatically relegated to the fourth division of Serie D.
''What happened in Cuneo is an insult to sport and its founding principles. In this surreal situation, the federation has the responsibility to enforce the rules, protect the passion of the fans and the prestige of the championship. What we unfortunately witnessed would be the ultimate farce,'' said Italian Football Federation President Gabriele Gravina.
Pro Piacenza are currently bottom of the 20-team Serie C Group A with eight points from 19 games. They have also been deducted eight points for breaching the League's financial regulations.
The President of the Italian Football Federation is upset with what just happened in the third division. Photo:Reuters |
Before the win over Pro Piacenza, AC Cuneo had 18 goals. The addition of 20 goals gave AC Cuneo a goal difference of +14 and climbed to 11th place with 29 points.
Prior to the incident, another Serie C team, Matera (Group C) was eliminated from the tournament for skipping more matches than the specified number.