Italian Football Federation extends Serie A season until August 2
The Italian Serie A which was supposed to be concluded by June 30, has now been shifted to August 2 by the respective association. Serie A, along with other major European leagues have been suspended for more than a month now after the Covid-19 outbreak in the nation in early March.
Italy is devoid of sporting action since March 9 following the regulations by the government to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The Italian federation, after consultation, with all the 20 clubs were on the course to end the league and the possible date for the completion of the league was fixed on June 30. But it has now been pushed back to August 2 as per recent developments.
The statement by the Italian football federation's president Gabriele Gravina has revealed that they are going to "adopt a resolution in the coming hours to postpone the end of the 2019/2020 sports season to August 2". The Federation also hopes that the clubs can start training from May 4, the date when the government is supposed to ease the restrictions imposed to help curb the spread of the pandemic.
"The football world is working incessantly and responsibly to find concrete and sustainable solutions to the crisis generated by Covid-19, including those necessary to safeguard the 2020-21 competitions. I thank minister [for sport Vincenzo] Spadafora for the attention he gave to us in Wednesday's meeting, during which our approach was explained in depth,” said Gabriele Gravina, as reported by channelnewsasia.com.
"We want to return to play safely because that is what common sense dictates and we are asked to do so by the international bodies to which Italian football is connected."
The German Bundesliga is set to re-start on May 9, with the matches to be played behind closed doors, making it the first major European league to resume after the break. But the final verdict on whether the matches can be staged still rests on the government authorities of Germany.