Lecce played in a white shirt with no logos on Sunday in protest at Serie A’s decision to reschedule Friday’s match at Atalanta just three days after the death of their physiotherapist.
Graziano Fiorita, who had worked for Lecce for 26 years, died on Thursday aged 47 in Coccaglio, the Brescia town where the team was training ahead of the game in Bergamo which was scheduled to take place the following day.
Although the club’s request to postpone Friday’s encounter was approved, Serie A rescheduled the game for Sunday, much to Lecce’s indignation.
“Graziano Fiorita died while on retreat with his team, far from his wife and four children, and still lies thousands of kilometres away from home, waiting for the magistrate to authorise his return,” a Lecce statement said on Sunday. “This game should not have been held today, but all attempts to postpone it were cynically rejected.
“We will play the game ‘of trampled values’ but we will do so wearing an anonymous white jersey that does not represent us, without colours, emblems, or logos. We will return to wearing our jerseys when Graziano returns home and is honoured, as he deserves, by his people.”
The players wore a white shirt with a black ribbon and a message written in black that translates in English as: “no value, no colour” during Sunday’s 1-1 draw.
The club, which is based in the Southern Italian town of Lecce, said in a statement that fans will be able to pay their final respects to Fiorita on Tuesday at their Via del Mare stadium.
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