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Serie A given green light to resume June 20

Another one of European’s top soccer leagues will be resuming play this June.

Serie A play will resume June 20th after the Italian Government gave the professional league the green light on Thursday. In addition, August 20th has been set as the finish date for league play.

“It was a very useful meeting and, as we had said from the start, football was always going to resume when we had the conditions to ensure safety and the committee gave the go-ahead to the protocol,” Italian Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora said.

“Italy is getting back on track and it is only fair that football should too. The committee agreed with the protocol, but confirmed the absolute necessity for a quarantine period if a player tests positive. We also received guarantees the process of player testing will not affect or detract from the general population’s access to testing in any way.”

With safety still being the most important aspect, should a player or coach of any team in the future test positive for COVID-19, the entire squad and staff will have to undergo a two-week quarantine period.

June 20th is scheduled  to see four matches take place from Matchday 25; Atalanta vs. Sassuolo, Inter Milan vs. Sampdoria, Torino vs. Parma, and Verona vs. Cagliari. An official schedule will be announced on Friday, but it is expected that teams will be playing every three days during the time slots of 5:00 p.m., 7:15p.m., and 9:30 p.m. (Italian Time).

Juventus currently leads the Serie A table with 63 points, a point clear of second place Lazio. Inter Milan and Atalanta currently occupy the remaining two spots in the top four, while AS Roma, Napoli, and AC Milan round out the current top seven.

Lecce, Spal, and Brescia are currently occupying the relegation zone with 12 matches remaining. Genoa, Torino, Sampdoria, and Udinese are just outside of the bottom three, all sitting under 30 points each so far this season.

In addition to league play returning, Coppa Italia semifinal second legs of Juventus vs. AC Milan and Napoli vs. Inter Milan will take place on June 13th, with the final scheduled for June 17th.

Serie A joined the English Premier League on Thursday as the latest European league to announce an official date for the resumption of the season. Should the final matches in Italy be cancelled due to COVID-19, Spadafora admitted the league would resort to introducing a play-off stage or freeze its current standings.

 

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