Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis stated he wants the Italian Super Cup to be played in Italy instead of Saudi Arabia after the recent outbreak of conflict between Hamas and Israel.

Napoli, along with Lazio, Inter Milan, and Fiorentina, is one of four Serie A teams set to compete in the redesigned Super Cup in the Gulf state in January.

PHOTO | COURTESY Aurelio De Laurentiis

The Italian media reported that Napoli and Fiorentina planned to boycott the event. Still, De Laurentiis said he wanted it brought back to Italy due to concerns that travel to Saudi Arabia would be risky.

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"Have you seen what's going on in Israel? There could be an air blockade over those areas," De Laurentiis was quoted as saying by news agency ANSA at an event in Rome.

"How can you even think of putting 120 players worth what they are on a plane? All that to earn a few million more? Let's do it at the Stadio Olimpico (in Rome).

PHOTO | COURTESY Aurelio De Laurentiis

"It's not that I want to boycott it. I only asked that we have a think about it (moving the tournament)."

Before this season, the Super Cup featured the Serie A champions and the Italian Cup winners. Inter Milan defeated AC Milan in the most recent edition in Riyadh in January.

In a similar move to the Spanish Super Cup, it will feature last season's top two in Serie A and the two Italian Cup finalists this season.

The Super Cup was initially slated for January 4-8, 2019. However, due to a request by Saudi officials earlier this month, the competition has been moved to January 21-25, 2019.

The Super Cup is organized by Serie A, which has not confirmed the new dates but has reorganized league fixtures for the prior weekend, with four unidentified matches shifted to January 17-18.