Taranto, exclusion close: match with Crotone postponed. How the standings change without a team

Taranto-Crotone, originally scheduled for Saturday at 5:30 p.m., has been postponed to a date to be determined. Lega Pro has established this with an emergency measure, giving a clear signal on the increasingly probable exclusion of Taranto from the championship. The FIGC Prosecutor's Office is delivering the notices of conclusion of investigations to the clubs that did not respect the deadline of last February 17 (for all, the referral is expected by the beginning of next week). If for Lucchese, Messina and Triestina there is only one penalty at stake - two points for each charge, failure to pay salaries, withholdings and contributions -, the situation is much more complex for Turris and Taranto itself, who also missed the deadline of December 16, repeat offenders and therefore exposed to the risk of exclusion from the championship. At the moment, the investigations on Turris are still ongoing as part of a more complex case and therefore the postponement of Friday evening's match in Giugliano has not been arranged. Once the referrals have been made, the hearing before the Tfn (first degree, already executive) should be scheduled within the first half of March (as early as the 7th or 8th, if it were possible to speed up the process).

The exclusion of one or two teams would clearly end up upsetting the standings of group C, modifying the balance in view of the final sprint for the top, the playoff zone and salvation. The Noif foresee that the outcome of the matches played throughout the season by the excluded teams will not be taken into account, consequently cancelling the points that derive from them. Rest days are instead foreseen for those who still have to face them. To give an example: in the case of exclusion of only Taranto, both Cerignola in first place (54) and Avellino in second place (49) would not lose points as they both suffered a defeat in the first half of the season, while the return match would not be played. The shock would be more significant in the case of a double exclusion of Taranto and Turris: Cerignola would lose six points (they beat Turris in the first and second legs), while Avellino would lose only four having drawn in Torre del Greco in the first leg. The consequence would be clear: Cerignola's advantage over the closest pursuer would drop from five to three points. A dynamic that risks repeating itself in every area of ​​the standings, partially distorting what the pitch has told up to now.