ZCZC
BSP-06
FBL-ITA-SERIEA-VIRUS
Serie A teams set to defy govt and return to training
MILAN, May 2, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Italy’s 20 Serie A clubs on Friday
reiterated their unanimous desire to complete the season as the northern
Emilia-Romagna region became the first to open the way to training despite
government restrictions.
An emergency Lega Serie A assembly via video of the top-flight clubs took
place after Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora this week said the chances of
restarting were “increasingly narrow”.
League president Paolo Dal Pino stated after the meeting “his openness to a
dialogue with the government from a constructive and collaborative
perspective, obtaining on this position the full agreement of all the clubs.”
Spadafora has warned that the government will call time on the season which
has been suspended since March 9 if the Italian Football Federation (FIGC)
fails to convince them on its health and safety protocol.
An FIGC meeting slated for May 8 could be decisive.
Meanwhile, the Emilia-Romagna region on Friday gave permission for local
clubs, including top-flight sides Bologna, Parma, SPAL and Sassuolo, to resume
training in sports centres from May 4 if they wished to do so.
Emilia-Romagna regional president Stefano Bonaccini has agreed to allow
“professional sportspeople to train individually, in compliance with social
distancing rules and without any gatherings in closed-door structures.”
Southern giants Napoli are also planning to return to training as their
safety proposals have received the backing of local authorities.
Friday’s league meeting also addressed the issue of TV rights, but no
resolutions were adopted concerning broadcasters Sky, DAZN and IMG, with a
final payment estimated at 340 million euros ($370 million) for the current
season, due to be paid in May.
FIGC president Gabriele Gravina has said that calling time would be “the
death of Italian football”, predicting losses of over 800 million euros in TV
rights, sponsors, ticketing and marketing.
If the government did decide to pull the plug on the season it would have
the support of a country traumatised by over 28,000 coronavirus deaths.
According to a recent survey, two out of three Italians would support a
stoppage, in particular in the northern epicentre, stronghold of heavyweights
Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan and Atalanta.
BSS/AFP/MMA/1530HRS