Mass Food Poisoning ! Italian Football Club Salernitana's 8 Players & 13 Staff Members Hospitalised After Match Against Sampdoria

Following their Serie B match against Sampdoria, Italian football team Salernitana was rocked by a mass food poisoning incident that sent eight players and thirteen staff members to the hospital. The health scare happened as the team was getting ready to leave Genoa on June 16, just hours after they had lost 0–2.

Salernitana food poisoning case

La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that the symptoms started in mid-air after the team ate a takeaway meal that was purportedly made with rice at their hotel. After the food was distributed shortly before departure, a number of team members experienced severe gastrointestinal problems.

Chaos soon swept through the scene. Emergency personnel, including four ambulances, were on hand at Salerno-Costa d'Amalfi Airport to transport the impacted people to hospitals in Salerno and Battipaglia. Since then, all 21 have been released from the hospital and are recuperating under medical supervision after being prescribed medication and rest.

State police in Genoa started looking into the hotel where the meal was prepared early the following morning. According to early hotel management statements, Salernitana's team nutritionist oversaw the preparation of the meal. Now, authorities are investigating the possible source of the food contamination.

Salernitana requests match postponement

The club is currently battling relegation, and that is why it has formally requested that their upcoming play-off match against Sampdori scheduled for Friday, June 20 to be postponed. The club has submitted medical documents to support their appeal.

In an official statement, the club said,“US Salernitana 1919 announces that it has cancelled today’s training session due to serious food poisoning that affected twenty-one members of the team, including players and staff... The situation required the intervention of ambulances upon the group’s arrival at Salerno Costa d’Amalfi airport and the subsequent hospitalisation of a large part of those involved.”

“...Therefore, pending investigative feedback on the incident, US Salernitana 1919 announces that it has forwarded a formal request to the LNPB to postpone the match against Sampdoria... in hope that their request to postpone their next game will be met.”