Serie A season 2019-2020 is facing the risk of chaotic schedule, maybe even canceled due to the raging outbreak of Covid-19 in Italy.
According to Reuters, the schedule in Serie A will continue to be heavily congested when the Italian Government has just extended the ban on fans in matches in three regions heavily affected by the Covid-19 epidemic, but removed for the Piemonte region, where there is the Juventus club.
The Italian government said matches in Bologna, Veneto and Emilia Romagna, plus the provinces of Savona and Pesaro-Urbina, will have to be played in the spectator yard until 8.3. In a new move, Italy also bans fans in those regions from going to matches in the rest of the country. This may cause the Serie A Organizers to postpone some more matches because it will be affected by the promotion, sponsorship, broadcast of the tournament if the matches take place in the empty field.
Club Juventus said in a statement that they would host the semifinal match of the Italian Cup in 4.4 at home to Allianz against AC Milan and have the support of fans, but exclude the fans residing in the area. Bologna, Veneto and Emilia Romagna and the provinces of Savona and Pesaro – Urbino.
So far, 10 Serie A matches have been postponed in the past two weeks due to the Covid-19 epidemic. Corriere dello Sport newspaper on 2.3 said 5 out of 10 Serie A matches this weekend will be postponed or played behind closed doors, including: Atalanta – Lazio, SPAL – Cagliari, Inter Milan – Sassuolo, Verona – Napoli and Bologna – Juventus.
According to the latest information, Italian leagues will hold an emergency meeting on April 4.4 to discuss the situation. In particular, some clubs have issued a warning that many matches continue to be canceled, the season will not end because there is not enough time to reschedule.
Inter Milan chief executive Giuseppe Marotta said in a statement on Monday: “If many matches are canceled after that, we will be at risk”. Marotta told Gazzetta dello Sport that Serie A could did not end because: “Some matches have been postponed and others have not, leading to the loss of fairness in the competition in the tournament. It’s a distorted tournament. You just need to think about the shock injured and suspended, not to mention the psychological aspect when you look at the rankings”. According to officials, two games were delayed making Inter less than the top team Lazio (the team is not postponed) 8 points so it will be more or less affected the mind due to falling behind.
“I’m worried about Inter’s match against Sassuolo next Sunday (8.3). How do we deal with that? We cannot play in an audience field because it is unreasonable to use a measure for this week and not for the previous week. I cannot see a viable solution”, Mr. Marotta emphasized.
Meanwhile, Chairman of Serie A, Paolo Dal Pino replied: “Marotta represents the needs of Inter, I protect the common interests of the whole Serie A, which unfortunately suffered conflicts of interest. Every day is related to each team”. The Serie A season of 2019-2020 is expected to take place until May 24 when the Euro 2020 finals will open on June 12 at Olimpico Stadium (Rome, Italy).
