AS Roma have seen their opening-day 0-0 draw with Verona turned into a 3-0 defeat due to an administration error, following a decision the Italian sporting justice.
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Amadou Diawara, who was replaced in the 89th minute of the match by Gonzalo Villar, had been included in the beginning-of-season 25-man squad list as an under-22 player. However, the former Napoli midfielder turned 23 on July 17.
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"The sporting justice has read the information relative to the Verona vs. Roma match and having considered that Roma fielded a player who wasn't included in the '25-man squad list' present on Sept. 14 at 12.14 p.m. CET, despite being 'over 22' is in violation of point eight of the Italian FA's official N83/A statement from Nov. 20, 2014, which was later modified on Jun. 21, 2018, has decided to implement the sanction in accordance with point nine of said statement and therefore penalises Roma with the sporting punishment of a 3-0 defeat for the match," a statement from the sporting justice read.
Sources have told ESPN, Roma will appeal the decision on the grounds they still had places available and were not trying to create space to include more players on the list.
Furthermore, despite having been born in Guinea, Diawara moved to Italy to play for Lega Pro side San Marino at the age of 17 in 2004 and therefore is classed as a homegrown player.
There is precedent in Serie A when, in August 2016, Sassuolo saw their 2-1 victory over Pescara reversed to a 3-0 defeat due to a similar admin error.
On that occasion, Sassuolo fielded new arrival Antonio Ragusa for the final 20 minutes of the match, but they had already submitted their 25-man squad before the signing was made official.
Roma finished last season in fifth place and face reigning champions Juventus at home in their second match of the Serie A campaign.
Source: espn.co.uk