Serie A clubs can
return to team training from May 18 if they make adjustments to medical
protocols, the Italian government announced on Monday.
The Italian
Football Federation (FIGC) met with the government’s technical scientific
committee (CTS) last week to discuss details for a return to group training as
the country emerges from a two-month coronavirus lockdown.
Italy’s sports
minister Vincenzo Spadafora and health minister Roberto Speranza said in a
joint statement on Monday that the CTS had largely accepted the FIGC protocol
for a resumption of group sessions.
“The opinion
requested by the government from the Technical Scientific Committee confirms
the line of prudence,” the ministers’ statement said.
“The indications of
the CTS, which are to be considered stringent and binding, will be sent to the
Federation for the necessary adjustments of the protocol in order to allow for
the safe resumption of team training starting from May 18.”
Football has been
suspended in Italy since March 9 amid the pandemic which has killed nearly
31,000 people in the country.
The Italian
government has allowed squads to return to individual training sessions in team
facilities from May 4.
But there remain
issues to be decided such as the quarantine of players in case of positive
tests for coronavirus.
Italian football
bosses want to follow the example of Germany, which returns to action on May
16, and where only positive cases would be put into isolation.
But the CTS insists
football must comply with the general rule of two weeks in insolation for those
who have been in contact with positive cases.
There are still 13
rounds of football to be played for some teams between mid-June, when the FIGC
hopes to return to action, and August.
Since the return to
training last week, Fiorentina and Sampdoria announced 10 positive tests. In
addition, a Torino player tested positive.
Spadafora later
stressed the many tests that will need to be carried out on Serie A footballers
would not be done “to the detriment of citizens”.
“If these changes
are made, there may be collective training from May 18,” the sports minister
told Italian television.
“Whether the
championship can resume, we will have to wait at least another week to see how
the curve of contagion evolves and then be able to decide.”
One by one players
have returned to Italy, with Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo observing a
two-week quarantine period and Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic returning to AC
Milan on Monday evening.
Italy on Monday
reported fewer than 1,000 people in intensive care for COVID-19 for the first
time since March 10 when the country went into confinement.