Italian football to resume play in late May

ROME: The Italian football federation (FIGC) said on Friday that club matches should resume “in late May, early June”, saying those advocating cancellation of the season “do not like football, or Italians”.

The president of the FIGC, Gabriele Gravina, said it would take three weeks to prepare after the end of the coronavirus lockdown in the country, currently scheduled for May 4. “So at the end of May, early June, we can start,” he told Italian radio on Friday.

“Those who talk today about cancelling the season do not like football or Italians, because they take away hope for the future and for recovery,” Gravina said. “There will be a monitoring period to guarantee the that all those taking part are free of the virus. If they are all negative, there is no problem of distancing or contagion,” said Gravina.

“I hope that everyone will be able to play in their own stadium, if that is not possible we will find other solutions,” he added.

“It’s a complex moment for our country, for the economy and for football, which is one of the most important industries,” he said, adding that he was confident “we will find the right way”.

According to the Italian press, Brescia and Torino are the last two clubs to openly oppose the resumption of the league. The city of Brescia is one of the hardest hit by the pandemic which has killed nearly 23,000 people in Italy.

Meawhile, Kevin De Bruyne is recovering from an illness, but the Manchester City star says he is not sure if he had coronavirus. De Bruyne and his family felt ill for around two weeks, but the Belgian international did not find out whether or not it was the virus.

“I am doing well, to be honest,” De Bruyne told Sky Sports on Friday. “The first two weeks my family was sick so it was a little bit like up and down, but now they are all healthy. “We don’t know if we had it (coronavirus) or not but I think we’re doing well now.”

With De Bruyne recovered, the midfielder is trying to keep as fit as he can while adhering to social distancing rules. The Premier League is suspended indefinitely because of the pandemic, but there remains a chance play will resume this season. “Well, the first two weeks was a little bit weird because I don’t know what’s going on,” De Bruyne said. “Then I managed to get a treadmill. I was swimming a little bit because I’m lucky to have a pool downstairs.

“I was doing a couple of lengths but now mostly I’m doing a run and I would say every other day I would choose between swimming and doing some exercise, so I’m keeping fairly good for what we can on our own, I guess.”

Asked if City are sending through information and drills, he said: “They send us like a fairly big programme. “I think at the beginning of lockdown some of the gym physios went to the club and made videos of what we can do, different types of exercises.

“But there’s a few things that I like to do, obviously it’s more the running and the swimming exercise. “I do a little bit in-between but I’m not one for sitting like an hour or two hours in a gym.

“I get bored of doing stuff on my own anyway so I prefer to do running, where I keep busy for myself and listen to some podcasts and all that stuff.” — AFP