SERIE A hopes of following Germany and Spain back onto the pitch will be decided today during a meeting with the Italian government which will determine the fate of the season in football mad Italy.
Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora will tell Italian football federation and Lega Serie A bosses if the health conditions are right to return after nearly three months. The Italian season has been on hold since 9 March amid the coronavirus pandemic which has killed almost 33 000 people in the country.
Football clubs returned to group training on 19 May but competitive action remains suspended until mid-June.
Indications are that Spadafora and the government’s Scientific Technical Committee will agree to both the health protocol proposed and to start the season again. In the case of a favourable decision today, Lega Serie A have scheduled a meeting for tomorrow morning to examine “the different calendar hypotheses” for the remaining Serie A and Italian Cup matches.
Lega Serie A bosses want competition to resume on the weekend of 13-14 June, starting with four postponed fixtures – Atalanta v Sassuolo, Verona v Cagliari, Inter Milan v Sampdoria and Torino v Parma.
They hope the season would resume fully on 20 June, with the goal of awarding the league title, defining promotions and relegations, before playing Italian Cup semi-finals, with the final in early August.
But not everyone agrees with a return to the pitch. Brescia and Torino, situated in the northern regions of Lombardy and Piedmont respectively, which accounted for nearly 60% of Italy’s Covid-19 deaths, have consistently opposed to a return.
Brescia are sitting last in the league, and have nothing to gain by concluding this nightmare season. Today, the ‘Plan B’ will also be analysed at the Lega Serie A meeting, a format with short play-offs to determine the title, European places and relegation, if the season is again suspended or all matches not played.-AFP