Roma blast 'hardship' as interrupted Udinese clash to be finished on April 25th

The two teams will reconvene at 20.00 local time (18.00 GMT) that evening in Udine to complete last weekend's fixture as Serie A applied a regulation that states interrupted matches must be finished within 15 days of play being halted. But Roma wanted the match be finished in mid-May as after facing Bologna on Monday they then travel to Napoli next weekend - a match which is yet to be given a kick-off time - and face the first leg of their Europa League semi-final with Bayer Leverkusen on May 2nd.

"Roma's European results and four consecutive (continental) semi-finals contributed more than most other clubs to Italy's UEFA ranking and as a result to the fifth slot in next season's Champions League," said Roma in a statement. "Despite this, Serie A president Lorenzo Casini made today an unfair decision which forces Roma to play Bayer Leverkusen at a disadvantage. This is a clear backwards step for the whole of Italian football."

Roma said it would fight what it perceived as an "unjustified hardship", but did not specify how it would do so. The capital club currently sit fifth in Serie A, which is now officially the division's final Champions League spot but both fourth-placed Bologna and Napoli are rivals for a place in Europe's top club competition.

Serie A had said in its earlier statement that "the date of Napoli v Roma will as a result be set taking into account of Roma's needs". Ndicka collapsed with chest problems in the 70th minute of Roma's fixture at Udinese, which was locked at 1-1 when referee Luca Pairetto decided to suspended play.

The Ivory Coast international was initially feared to have suffered a heart attack but Roma later said that tests revealed "a thoracic trauma with minimal left pneumothorax (trapped air