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Serie A clubs vote unanimously in favour of completing current season

All 20 Serie A clubs have voted in favour of completing the 2019-20 season.  The last game played in...


Serie A clubs vote unanimously...

Sport

Serie A clubs vote unanimously in favour of completing current season


All 20 Serie A clubs have voted in favour of completing the 2019-20 season. 

The last game played in the Italian top flight was on March 9, with the country on lockdown shortly after that as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly 28,000 people have lost their lives to the virus in Italy, with approximately half of those deaths coming in the Lombardy region.

It was believed initially that both Torino and Brescia would vote against the proposal, but they've fallen in line with the other 18 clubs.

The vote to complete the season was - in effect - an attempt to secure the last instalments of TV money due for the season.

A pandemic ending the season would be regarded as a force majeure, which would allow TV companies Sky, DAZN and IMG to void the remainder of the season's contract.

Meanwhile, the president of Emilia-Romagna has given permission for the four Serie A clubs in the region to resume training on May 4.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte previously said only individual sports could resume training on that day.

Emilia-Romagna has recorded the second most deaths (3,551) of any Italian region during the crisis, but now ranks behind Lombardy and Piedmont in active cases.

But Stefano Bonaccini has signed an order allowing professional sportspeople to train from May 4, provided they still adhere to social distancing guidelines.

That will allow players from Parma, Sassuolo, SPAL and Bologna to begin training again - albeit individually.

Despite the positive mood music from the clubs' vote and from Emilia-Romagna, an actual return to play remains very much in the balance.

The Italian Federation (FIGC) and the Italian government remain some distance apart regarding the notion of a resumption.

The clubs have vowed to work in collaboration with Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora, but he's more than a little skeptical given what he's seen.

"Negotiations are in progress between the scientific committee and the FIGC, who has presented a medical protocol that was not considered sufficient,” Spadafora told TG La7 on Thursday.

"However, I always said that resuming training does not necessarily mean resuming the season.

"I see resuming Serie A as an increasingly unlikely possibility.

"The players want to resume training, quite rightly, but if I were the President of a club, I’d think more about how to start the next season in safety."



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Coronavirus Covid-19 FIGC Italy Serie A Vincenzo Spadafora

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