Italy’s Serie A will return on June 20, as Italy’s sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora has confirmed.
Spadafora gave the league the all-clear to resume in three weeks time on Thursday, although it will have to wait a week longer than it had initially hoped. He added that there was a possibility the resumption of the league, which was suspended on March 9, could be preceded by Italian Cup matches one week earlier.
Spadafora made the announcement after a conference call with representatives from the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the players’ association and the Serie A league. Italian football federation (FIGC) had earlier set a August 20 deadline for finishing the 2019-20 season.
Serie A matches were suspended during second week of March, with Juventus leading the table by a point, closely followed by Lazio, with 12 matchdays remaining. Third-place Inter Milan are nine points behind Juventus but have played a match less.
Players returned to individual training earlier this month in a phased manner, before group sessions restarted this week.
The Italian Football Federation will decide on the time frames for Serie A games but it is expected that teams will play every three days across three different time slots: at 5pm, 7.15pm, and 9.30pm (Italian time).
In England, the Premier League announced plans on Thursday to resume on June 17.
It’s too much for the players.
We stopped [training] for two months. It is dangerous to restart it playing three games a week. So I’m worried about injuries and the hot weather which is going to be terrible in Italy more than Germany.
Massimo Cellino, Owner of Serie A side Brescia
It’s lifted everybody’s spirits, As long as we can do it in the right way without too many risks and setting the right example for the country, I think it’s a good thing to be doing.
William Troost-Ekong, Udinese defender and Nigerian International Footballer
The FIGC also said Their intention was to play the top three divisions to a conclusion and that if any of them should restart and then stop again, a shorter alternative of a play-off would have to be devised.
