Italian games to start late in protest at bans

Serie A and B matches this weekend will kick off 15 minutes late in protest at the outcome of a doping case. Daniele Mannini and Davide Possanzini were banned for a year by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday for arriving late for a drugs test at a match in December 2007 while playing for Serie B side Brescia.

“The board of the Italian players’ association (AIC), in solidarity with players Mannini and Possanzini and in protest at the scandalous sentence given to them, has decided that teams will enter the field 15 minutes late in the next round of Serie A and B,” AIC said in a statement.