The club’s 0-0 draw with Hellas Verona has been turned into a 3-0 loss due to an administrative mistake.

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Roma have been punished with a 3-0 defeat for fielding an ineligible player against Hellas Verona in their Serie A opener on Saturday.

Lega Serie A announced on Tuesday that Roma used a player over the age of 22 who had not been registered on their 25-man list with the league.

Guinea midfielder Amadou Diawara turned 23 in July but was mistakenly included in the under-22 section of the club’s squad for the season. Under-22 players don’t count towards the total of 25, meaning an extra player could be included in the squad.

The game at the Marc’Antonio Bentegodi finished goalless but Roma will return to zero points for the season following their sanction.

“Roma have employed a player not registered in the 25-man squad communicated by certified email on September 14, 2020, despite having become over 22,” a Lega Serie A statement read.

“[Serie A] resolves to sanction Roma with the sporting punishment of the loss of the game with a 0-3 score.”

Verona head coach Ivan Juric was also fined €5,000 for giving his team instructions from the stands while serving a touchline ban.

According to Sky Sports Italia, Roma will appeal the decision.

Sky reported that Roma have admitted the error but argued that when their squad list was submitted, the system should have signalled an error given Diawara’s age. If so, the league may be able to confirm whether an alert was sent or not.

Roma’s season has already started with plenty of uncertainty as the club look to finalise their squad with the season now underway.

Edin Dzeko appeared to be on his way to Juventus but that deal is in doubt due to complications over Roma’s move for their preferred replacement, Napoli forward Arkadiusz Milik.

In the meantime, Dzeko’s move could be off with Juve now having signed Alvaro Morata from Atletico Madrid.

Cengiz Under has left to join Leicester on loan, while Roma did manage to recently bring in defender Marash Kumbulla from Hellas Verona.

Roma will host Juventus on Sunday after the defending champions began life under Andrea Pirlo with a 3-0 win against Sampdoria at the weekend.

Source – Goal.com