Serie A start on hold over medical protocol
ROME: Attempts to restart Italy’s Serie A remained on hold after the government said it was still examining the football federation’s (FIGC) medical guidelines which are seen as the stumbling block to a resumption of the season as positive tests surfaced in the blanket tests by clubs before training. Fiorentina had three players and three back-up staff testing Covid-19 positive and Torino had one player positive.
Serie A teams have been allowed to start practice this week but only with players training individually and respecting social distancing. Full team practice is due to begin on May 18, but only if the medical protocol is approved.
Inter said all their players and staff have tested negative for coronavirus on Friday, clearing the way for them to return to individual training. One by one stars have returned to Italy with Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo is in two weeks’ quarantine as his team got back training on Tuesday. AC Milan were awaiting the belated return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic from a protracted exile in Sweden.
On Thursday, there was a meeting between the government’s technical-scientific committee and the FIGC but Minister of Sport Vincenzo Spadafora said it did not reach an agreement.
Instead, he added, the guidelines would be sent to the Ministry of Health for a further review.
“I know that it was a very thorough meeting, with many requests from doctors and now the technical-scientific committee will draft an assessment that will be sent to the Ministry of Health,” he said.
“I hope that the problems have been solved and that, on the 18th, they (clubs) can resume team training, not only of football but also of all the other sports disciplines.”
Italian media, including Gazzetta dello Sport, said the two main issues were how to do enough testing without taking away resources from the general population and how to deal with a player testing positive.