No Pardon for Pierre Kalulu: Juventus Must Cope Without Defender

The dispute over Pierre Kalulu's suspension has dominated the headlines of Italian sports media ahead of Serie A's 26th matchday. Juventus Turin, citing "obvious injustice," appealed directly to the head of the FIGC, Gabriele Gravina, to apply a pardon. The basis of the appeal was an incident from the match against Inter Milan, where Kalulu received a second yellow card for an alleged foul on Alessandro Bastoni. Replays suggested the Inter defender exaggerated the contact, something even the referees' association acknowledged, but the regulations concerning sporting pardon are used extremely rarely. The federation's final decision upheld the line of rigor, rejecting the Turin club's arguments. This means Luciano Spalletti, the Juventus coach, will have to remodel his defense for the upcoming match against the newly-promoted Como. Spalletti, despite his disappointment, called on his team to channel frustration into sporting anger, comparing the pain from defeats and refereeing decisions to a "tightly stretched rubber band" that should propel the team in the fight for the Champions League. In the background, a debate about the state of Italian football is also unfolding, triggered by the poor results of clubs from the Apennine Peninsula in European cups. Simultaneously, fans' eyes are on Bologna, which under the leadership of Vincenzo Italiano secured a valuable 1-0 victory over Norwegian side Brann in the Europa League. The hero of the match was Santiago Castro, whose goal gave the Italian team an advantage ahead of the return leg. In the domestic league, the battle shifts to the bottom of the table, where Sassuolo hosts Hellas Verona in a key clash for survival in the top flight. The procedure of a player's pardon by the federation president became a prominent topic in 2023 when Gabriele Gravina annulled a penalty for Romelu Lukaku following racist incidents, which Juventus cited as a precedent in the Kalulu case.„The pain we feel must be like a tightly stretched rubber band that will launch us towards the next challenges.” — Luciano Spalletti This coming weekend also features the headline clash between Atalanta and Napoli. The Naples team, led by Antonio Conte, is fighting to maintain a spot guaranteeing entry into elite European competitions, losing ground to leading Inter. The race for medals remains open, although the Milanese club's advantage over the chasing pack is becoming increasingly clear.