Napoli Players & Coach Carlo Ancelotti Face Sanctions After Training Retreat Boycott
By Max Cooper
Napoli are set to take action against their players and manager after they refused to attend the training retreat which owner Aurelio De Laurentiis scheduled following their recent run of poor results.
The Napoli squad was expected to spend time at the retreat after a disappointing defeat to Roma and then their shock draw with Red Bull Salzburg on Tuesday night, but both manager Carlo Ancelotti and his players decided to boycott this enforced sanction by I Partenopei's owner.
The manager and his squad reportedly refused to board a bus to the retreat, while Ancelotti also skipped his post-match media duties.
The Serie A side's players returned home at the end of their latest training session, and the hotel rooms which were booked for the retreat were then cancelled. Napoli later released a statement condemning the actions of their players, and putting the responsibility on Ancelotti for the decision to ignore the expected retreat.
"The club declares that, with reference to the behaviour of the players of its first team yesterday evening, Tuesday 5 November 2019, it will proceed to protect its economic, patrimonial, image and disciplinary rights in every competent jurisdiction.
“It is also made clear that the responsibility to decide on ordering days in a training retreat lies with coach Carlo Ancelotti.
“A press silence has been ordered from now until a date yet to be decided.”
Training retreats are a common action taken against teams who are underperforming in Italy, requiring the players to stay in hotels or at the training ground together and work without returning home during the week.
Ancelotti has previously said he is against them, and he and the Napoli squad felt that their punishment was unjust, despite their poor results of late, and decided to ignore the demands of their president De Laurentiis, who is set to take action against the entire squad.
It is said that the club may dock the players' wages by five percent, as they look to regain control over the spiralling situation between the president, players and coach.
Reports in Italy suggest Ancelotti is considering walking away from the club in the wake of the incident, or that Napoli could sack him.