Serie A will resume on June 20, Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora announced on Thursday. The Italian championship was interrupted on March 9 by the coronavirus pandemic.
“The Technical and Scientific Committee gave its agreement on the protocol and the federation assured me that it had a plan B and a plan C. In the light of these considerations, the championship can resume on June 20,” said Mr. Spadafora after a meeting with the governing bodies of Italian football.
In the event of a new judgment due to an aggravation of the health situation, the federation has in fact provided as “plan B” a play-off and play-out system. Plan C mentioned by the Minister concerns the case of a permanent interruption of the competition.
“We had a very useful meeting. From the start, I said that football could restart once all the security conditions had been met and with the agreement of the Technical and Scientific Committee on the different protocols. Italy started again, football is normal too, “he added.
“I also hope to be able to send a positive signal to the whole country by taking advantage of the week from June 13 to 20 to conclude the Italian Cup. It would be a good signal with three beautiful games in the clear” on television, still said Mr. Spadafora.
The Italian Cup was interrupted after the first semi-finals between Inter Milan and Naples on the one hand, and between AC Milan and Juventus on the other. The championship was stopped at the end of the 26th day. There are therefore 12 full days to go, plus four late games for the 25th day.
The announcement of the resumption of the Italian championship came a few hours after that of the English championship, which will restart on June 17. The German championship has already resumed ten days ago and footballers from the Spanish Liga will return to the pitch the week of June 8.
Among the five major European championships, the French Ligue 1 is the only one to have been definitively interrupted. Italian Serie B (second division) will start again on June 26.
ats, dpa
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