Serie A agrees on June 13 resumption after meeting with all 20 clubs

Italy’s top-flight league Serie A has agreed on June 13 resumption date after completing a video call with all 20 clubs on Wednesday. However, the resumption of Serie A is subject to government approval. 

All the clubs have already started their planning to resume full training on May 18 following the Italian government’s approval of league’s medical protocol amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Individual training has already begun in Italy.

"As far as the resumption of sports activities is concerned, the date of June 13 for the resumption of the championship has been indicated ... in accordance with medical protocols for the protection of players and all those involved," Serie A said in a statement.
Serie A further stated that the clubs have also asked the broadcasting rights holders to “respect the payment deadlines” in a bid to maintain a healthy relationship with them.

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When the Serie A was suspended in the month of March, Juventus were one point ahead of Lazio in the league standings. While Juventus are eyeing their ninth consecutive Serie A title, Lazio haven’t won the league since 2000.

There are still 12 rounds of matches remaining in Serie A in addition to four postponed matches. The biggest problem for both Serie A and Italian government would be how they deal with players should they test positive to COVID-19. 

While the Italian football federation has said that isolating the positive tested player is sufficient, the Italian health ministry has said that the entire squad needs to go into a 14-day quarantine period. 

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Earlier on Wednesday, Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora told the Italian Senate that the government would take its time in providing their decision regarding the return of live football. 

"If [Serie A] resumes, as we all hope, it will be because we will have arrived at this decision after an orderly succession of actions and protocols," he said. "It is not possible to decide in an irresponsible hurry.

"Football is by its nature a sport in which it is not possible to keep distances, the players must run and agglomerate in the penalty area.

"The underestimation of this problem led a few weeks ago to the quarantine of several Serie A teams. We want to avoid finding ourselves in this situation."

Meanwhile, the German Bundesliga is set to resume the league on May 16. Whereas La Liga is steadily allowing the more players to train with a hope to restart the league on June 12.