May 29 – Italy’s Serie A will return on June 29 in the country hit hardest in Europe in the early weeks of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Football was suspended on March 9, with Juventus leading the table by a point with 12 rounds of matches remaining. Players returned to individual training earlier this month before group sessions restarted this week.
The Italian football federation (FIGC) has set an August 20 deadline for finishing the 2019-20 season, with the top three divisions being be played to a conclusion.
The Coppa Italia will actually take place a week before the league with Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Napoli contesting the semi-finals.
Italy’s Minister for Sport, Vincenzo Spadafora, said the time was right for football to return.
“Football was always going to resume when we had the conditions to ensure safety,” said Spadafora. “Italy is getting back on its feet and it is only right that football should do the same…”
But not everyone is happy. Massimo Cellino, who owns Serie A bottom side Brescia, said resuming was a “crazy decision”.
“It’s too much for the players,” he told the BBC . “We stopped [training] for two months. It is dangerous to restart it playing three games a week. So I’m worried about injuries and the hot weather which is going to be terrible in Italy.”
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