Sampdoria avoid Serie C as fan disorder cuts relegation playoff short

Sampdoria avoided a first-ever relegation to the third tier of Italian football on Sunday after coming through a relegation play-off with Salernitana which was cut short due to fans disorder.

Close-range strikes in each half from Massimo Coda and Giuseppe Sibilli would have confirmed survival at the end of a rollercoaster campaign for 1991 Italian champions Samp, following a 2-0 win in last weekend's first leg.

But Sunday's second leg in Salerno was stopped and then called off with just 65 minutes on the clock after angry home fans launched flares, firecrackers and seats onto the pitch of the Stadio Arechi.

A 4-0 win for Samp will likely become 5-0, with Salernitana set to be punished with a 3-0 defeat after a tumultuous second leg.

Samp finished the regular season in 18th place and the relegation zone last month following a goalless draw with Juve Stabia and Salernitana's win over Cittadella on the final day.

Everything changed when Brescia were handed a points deduction for accounting and administrative infractions which dropped them below Samp in the final table.

Samp were bumped up into the second of two relegation play-off spots, setting up a showdown with Salernitana.

There was no lack on drama over the course of the tie, with the second leg moved back to Sunday from Friday after an outbreak of food poisoning among Salernitana's playing and coaching following the first leg in Genoa.

Salernitana, who only needed an aggregate draw to stay up, due to their higher placing in the table, thought they were ahead on the night when Gian Piero Ferrari bundled home from a corner in the 34th minute.

Fan anger

But Ferrari's goal was ruled out for handball. Four minutes later Coda netted, sparking anger in the stands which boiled over after Sibilli's 49th-minute finish. 

Fans caused the match to be stopped several times before the players headed to the dressing room in the hope that the crowd would calm down.

They were only back out on the pitch for moments before objects again flew from the stands of a now half-empty Arechi, forcing referee Daniele Doveri to end both the match and Samp's fears of relegation.

Samp, who posted a loss of 40.7 million euros in their 2024 accounts, have spent the last few seasons dealing with financial problems and  this season flirting with the drop after making the Serie B play-offs last season.

They had been close to going bust after relegation to Serie B in 2023, but were saved that summer by current president Matteo Manfredi and former Leeds United owner Andrea Radrizzani, who has since exited the club.

Samp's majority shareholder is Singaporean businessman Joseph Tey.

Club icons Alberico Evani and Attilio Lombardo were hired as coaches in April in an attempt to save Samp from the drop after significant transfer market activity both last summer and in January.

Evani was Samp's fourth head coach of the season after Andrea Pirlo, Andrea Sottil and Leonardo Semplice.