TURIN, Italy, May 19, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Cristiano Ronaldo returned to
training with Juventus in Turin on Tuesday after an absence of over two months
because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The 35-year-old drove himself into the Juventus Training Centre in a Jeep
with tinted windows.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner will undergo medical and physical tests
before joining up with his teammates in training, according to media reports.
Juventus players returned to individual training on May 4, the day Ronaldo
returned to Italy after spending lockdown in his native Portugal.
For the past two weeks, he has been in quarantine in his villa in Turin.
Ronaldo played in Juventus’s last Serie A game before the season was
suspended, a 2-0 win over Inter Milan behind closed doors at the Allianz
Stadium on March 8.
Italy has been one of the countries hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic
with more than 32,000 deaths.
Juventus are leading Lazio by one point as they target a ninth consecutive
Scudetto.
Ronaldo is the first Juventus foreign player, among those who left Italy
during the lockdown, to return to the team’s Continassa training centre.
The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) announced on Monday that all its
competitions, including Serie A, will remain suspended until June 14.
Serie A had hoped to return on June 13 but the FIGC has pushed back the
date in line with a government decree that all sports competitions be
suspended until next month.
The FIGC said the choice was made “pending any further… decision by the
authorities”, suggesting the possibility of a restart on June 13 might still
exist.
But Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Saturday he needed “more
guarantees” before the green light could finally be given for football to
resume.
A meeting is planned in the near future between Conte and Italian football
bosses.
The government’s technical and scientific committee will decide in the
coming days if it accepts the new health protocols proposed for a return to
group training and competition.