Juventus have temporarily suspended the first-team trio Weston McKennie, Paulo Dybala and Arthur after they were found to have participated in a game that violated the Covid-19 restrictions in the American midfielder’s home.
It is forbidden to organize private parties in Italy according to the current rules, while there is also a curfew from 22:00 to 05:00, which means that everyone is expected to be in their own homes between these hours.
McKennie hosted an illegal party Claudio Villa. / Getty Images
As noted by Il Corriere dello Sport, police were called to McKennie’s home at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday night, where they found ten people, including McKennie, Dybala and Arthur.
The trio have all been fined by both the police and the club, while all three have been suspended and will therefore miss Saturday’s meeting with Torino – a game that Arthur would still miss due to injury.
Football Italia even adds that the trio’s suspension may be even longer and their involvement in Wednesday’s meeting with Napoli (which has not yet been officially confirmed) is also threatened.
Arthur was at the party David Ramos / Getty Images
“I’m taking the floor to talk about the party the other night, so then we think about the match,” manager Andrea Pirlo said at the start of his pre-match press conference. “The three players involved are not called to tomorrow’s match. We’ll see when they get back to work. I do not want anything to do with this anymore.”
Juventus are obviously furious over the security breach, but they are also disappointed to see the first three team players act so irresponsibly in the face of such an important derby, especially given the team’s need to bounce back after a shock 1-0 loss to Benevento before the international break.
Dybala took to Instagram to apologize for his role in the event and wrote: “I know that in such a difficult time in the world with Covid, it would have been better not to make mistakes, but I was wrong when I stayed out to dinner. was not a party, but I was still wrong and I apologize. “
Dybala has apologized for his role in Alessandro Sabattini / Getty Images
That leaves the Juventus squad in even worse shape. Pirlo has just lost Leonardo Bonucci to a positive Covid-19 test, while Alex Sandro, Merih Demiral and Aaron Ramsey also have to deal with injuries and illnesses.
The defeat against Benevento last time left Juventus down in fourth in the Serie A table, ten points behind leaders Inter, and another defeat against Torino could be the last nail in the coffin for their title jump.
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