Soccer-Serie A criticised over fixture confusion

MILAN, May 19 (Reuters) - Juventus appears to have surprised Serie A organisers by reaching the Champions League final, forcing last-minute changes to the domestic fixture list. Lega Serie A appeared to be caught out when Juve also qualified for the Coppa Italia final in Rome which had originally been scheduled for June 7, one day after the Champions League showdown with Barcelona in Berlin. Organisers have responded by bringing forward the Coppa Italia final - between Juventus and Lazio - by more than two weeks to Wednesday. This has only caused further complications in a snowball affect. Lazio were due to play neighbours AS Roma on Sunday in a match crucial to both sides' hopes of qualifying for the Champions League and asked for the game to be moved to Monday to give them more time to recover. Lega Serie A agreed, despite opposition from Roma, but that upset Napoli, who are also in the race for the Champions League, and, according to Italian media, have asked for their match against Juventus on Saturday to be played at the same time as Lazio-Roma on Monday. It has led Giovanni Malago, head of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), to wonder why organisers did not see the pitfalls in the first place. "Something has been underestimated and you have to realise that when you move one piece, it alters the whole system," he told reporters on Wednesday. "There was a chance all this could have happened and it should have been foreseen." He said that switching the Lazio-Roma match "undermines the credibility of the football system in front of public opinion." Roma's managing director Mauro Baldissoni was also critical. "It's in the interest of Serie A to sell itself properly abroad and attract interest. And I don't think moving such an important game to Monday does that," he told the club's website. (asroma.it) "It's probably not in the interests of those who invest money in the game, buying the TV rights in Italy and abroad. "It might not be in the interests of the fans who have bought a ticket and who perhaps can't go to the game on Monday. "Then there's the interests of the city itself, which will see an area understandably closed off for reasons of public order on a week day. He added: "There have always been cup games on Wednesday and league matches on Sunday and no one has ever thought it strange. Juventus are playing on Wednesday too and they'll be back in action on Saturday." (Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne, editing by Pritha Sarkar)