Parma-Juve match called off due to snow

 

ROME, January 31, 2012 (AFP) - Serie A leaders Juventus' trip to Parma on Tuesday night was called off less than an hour before kick-off due to heavy snow making areas in and around the stadium too dangerous.

The decision was taken after consultation between the two side's captains, the referee, the local Prefect and security officials.

Juve coach Antonio Conte was furious, though.

"It's impossible given the resources available to us today that we have to postpone such a match, we could have played at 3pm," he fumed.

"Now we're obliged to spend a 10-hour journey returning home and then we'll have to come back to Parma, who knows when, to play this game."

Juve general manager Giuseppe Marotta said Italian football needs to follow his club's lead and build some modern facilities -- this season the Old Lady of Turin became the first club in Italy to build their own stadium.

"It's absurd that we play in such obsolete and run down stadiums," he moaned.

"It's time for the politicians to get moving and promote the new laws on stadiums.

"It's not possible to keep postponing matches."

Teams are generally put off from building their own stadiums due to the huge amount of red tape involved in gaining permission to do so.

It means they all rent stadiums, many of which were built or refurbished for the 1990 World Cup, from their local councils.

Parma chief executive Pietro Leonardi, however, said he agreed with the decision.

"At 8pm (1900GMT) I accepted the decision. It wasn't possible to play," he told SkySport. "At 6pm I was convinced we could play, but maybe that was too soon to understand whether it was possible.

"We understood there were difficulties when we started uncovering the pitch."

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