Napoli cancel Lazio press conference after Aurelio De Laurentiis orders media blackout

Napoli have cancelled their pre-match press conference ahead of Sunday’s Serie A meeting with Lazio, with club president Aurelio De Laurentiis ordering the team to maintain silence before the 11th round fixture.

Journalists had arrived at the club’s Castel Volturno training centre and cameras were ready for manager Massimiliano Allegri’s appearance. However, just five minutes before the scheduled start, Napoli’s media department asked those present to leave the room.

According to La Repubblica, the decision came directly from De Laurentiis, who has placed the squad in a closed training camp and imposed a media blackout before what Napoli regard as a crucial match against Lazio.

The move follows successive defeats by Juventus and Porto. Napoli have been in the training camp since Friday, while De Laurentiis was also present at Castel Volturno, where he met Allegri and sporting director Manna to discuss the reasons behind the team’s decline.

Sky Italia reported that De Laurentiis believed silence was the best approach at this important stage of the season. With Napoli playing every three days, he wanted the players to concentrate entirely on training and their matches, and also reduced his own pre-match comments in the hope that performances would improve.

The decision was not intended as a punishment, according to the report. Instead, De Laurentiis wanted the team’s performances on the pitch to speak first and avoid any ambiguity surrounding the club’s position.

Sky Italia added that the president probably did not decide to cancel the press conference only minutes before it was due to begin. Rather, the position had been established in advance, with the club’s announcement failing to be issued at the appropriate time.

De Laurentiis later addressed the situation in a message posted on his official account on X.

“There is no injury situation at Napoli,” he wrote.

He then explained the decision to withdraw the media engagement: “When I realised that we were about to hold another press conference, I decided to cancel it. Why? Because I do not believe press conferences are necessary before matches, especially when we play every three days.

“We are in a training camp and must avoid any distractions that could take the players’ focus away from the match. When the team is in a training camp, everyone must be completely safe.”

The cancellation comes as Napoli seek a response to their recent results against Juventus and Porto when they face Lazio on Sunday.