THE PRESIDENT of the Italian Football Federation has claimed Serie A could be completed in August following the outbreak of the coronavirus.
Gabriele Gravina has defiantly refused to write off the rest of the Serie A season despite Italy being the second worst hit country by the virus in the world, below China.
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Italian football president Gabriele Gravina hopes to resume Serie A in JulyCredit: Getty Images
The top flight of Italian football has been suspended since March 9 with footie aces from several clubs testing positive for the killer virus, including Juventus defender Daniele Rugani.
There are 12 match days to play, plus several outstanding games and Gravina has estimated the league could be completed in 45 to 60 days.
In an interview with Radio Marte, he said: “I don’t give up easily.
“As long as there is a chance, I will keep alive the hope of restarting the championships.
“I am aware that it is premature to think about a date but we must think positively, also for the health of the Italians, and hope that this situation ends as soon as possible.
“If we are given the month of July and August, that could be the right period.”
He also didn’t rule out the bizarre idea of a play-off system to decide the league if there was not enough time to complete the schedule, and said it could be a interesting idea for the future.
The 66-year-old said: “I proposed it only as a lifeboat, but for the future we’ll work on it because for me it remains an interesting idea and I hope one day it can be shared by the protagonists, so as to give even more interest to Serie A.”
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Italy has the highest number of coronavirus fatalities in the world with the death toll from the deadly bug currently at 7,503 in barely a month.
There are 74,386 recorded cases of the virus and the hardest-hit area is the northern region of Lombardy.
Coronavirus spread rapidly in Italy because the first person who was infected in the country was in the asymptomatic phase – meaning they showed no symptoms and could spread the virus undetected.
But data released on Wednesday hinted that Italy may be fighting back as the nation’s death toll slowed for the second day in a row, offering renewed hope.
Data showed a drop in the rate of deaths and new infections with the number of deaths rising by 602 on Monday, the smallest increase for four days.
AC Milan technical director Paolo Maldini tests positive for coronavirus along with son Daniel
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
