Genoa-Siena clash halted for 40 minutes

Genoa’s Serie A match against Siena was halted temporarily after home supporters expressed their frustrations at a below-par performance.

Alberto Malesani’s men found themselves 4-0 down after only 53 minutes of play at the Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris, and Luigi Giorgi’s goal for the visitors proved to be the final straw for many, who began throwing various items onto the pitch.

The club’s ultras then took action by blocking the entrance to the dressing room as they wanted the players to hand their jerseys over on the grounds that they were not worthy of the colours.

All of the Genoa players incredibly co-operated, except loan striker Giuseppe Sculli, who refused to remove his shirt, while wing-back Giandomenico Mesto broke down in tears.

Captain Marco Rossi, who was given the responsibility of taking the jerseys and passing them on to the ultras, proceeded to go over to the group of supporters in a bid to bargain with them.

In the meantime, referee Paolo Tagliavento managed to enter the dressing room, while club president Enrico Preziosi also made his way to the pitch and gathered the players in a huddle.

Sculli then appeared to try to negotiate with his shirt still on, along with Sebastien Frey, who tried to pull his back and was quoted as saying: “This is my shirt, we are all for Genoa.”

Frey seemingly played the role of peacemaker between the ultras and players, as he then pleaded Siena to come back out onto the pitch and complete the game, which still had 37 minutes remaining.

Play finally resumed after a 40-minute delay, with the Bianconeri eventually winning 4-1.

However, it is expected that a round of talks between the Genoa players and ultras will commence at the club’s training complex on Monday.