Cagliari have again been barred from using their ground for security reasons and must play Sunday’s Serie A match against Milan in Turin instead, the Italian league announced.

The league made the decision yesterday after the Cagliari city government said it considered the Is Arenas stadium was “unable to cope with the encounter due to the ... influx of spectators who share an historic rivalry”.

Cagliari have had trouble with the Is Arenas since moving at the start of the season.

Their opening match against Atalanta was staged behind closed doors for safety reasons and the following fixture against AS Roma was cancelled by the city government after the Sardinian club defied its orders to play without supporters present.

Cagliari president Massimo Cellino slammed bureaucratic problems, declared the stadium safe and invited fans to turn up. Roma were later awarded a 3-0 walkover win.

After that the stadium was declared safe until the club faced Juventus in December when it was again deemed unfit to cope with the expected influx of fans and the match was held in Parma.

Cagliari played at the Stadio Sant’Elia from 1970 until around halfway through last season but abandoned the arena due to disagreements with the authorities and over growing safety worries.

They staged the remaining home games last season in Trieste, around 1,000 kilometres from their base.