Italian Serie A teams returned to group training on Tuesday in their first full sessions since March due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Now the league will wait and see when is the earliest date they can resume play of the postponed season.
Italian Minister of Sport Vincenzo Spadafora confirmed today that the future of the league’s schedule will be determined at a meeting on May 28th. The season has been on pause since March with much to play for in regards to the league title, top four places, and relegation.
“The Scientific Technical Committee have approved the FIGC protocol for the resumption of team training,” Spadafora told Italian TV station Rai. “It is excellent news, collective training can now resume.
“The FIGC have reviewed its first proposal with clarifications on the quarantine time in case of a positive test, but above all the famous initial self-isolation is avoided.”
Spadafora will meet with FIGC president Gabriele Gravina and Serie A chief Paolo Dal Pino to decide on the return to competition. Serie A teams have returned to group training this week after beginning individual training earlier this month. Gravina moved the earliest possible resumption date back to June 14th, a day later than originally chosen.
There are many decisions to make in regards to rescheduling the postponed matches, possible neutral sites to host matches, and whether or not fans will be allowed at matches. To date, COVID-19 has killed more than 32,000 people in Italy, meaning fans may be forced to watch their clubs play from the comfort of their homes.
“We will then decide if and when Serie A will restart,” Spadafora said. “The important thing will be to restart with the firm intention of completing the championship, then the federations will decide the modalities and formats to be adopted.”
Defending champion Juventus leads the Serie A table with 63 points from 26 games, one point ahead of second-place Lazio. The race for the top four is also wide open with Inter Milan and Atalanta currently occupying the final two spots.
Roma and Napoli are in the final European qualification spots while Lecce, SPAL and Brescia occupy the three relegation spots.