Serie A fate to be decided today

MILAN: Serie A’s hopes of following Germany and Spain back onto the pitch will be decided on Thursday in a meeting with the Italian government which will determine the fate of the season in Italy.

Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora will tell representatives from the Italian football federation and Lega Serie A if the health conditions are right to return to action after nearly three months. The season has been on hold since March 9 when it was halted as coronavirus infections spread rapidly in Italy. The pandemic has killed almost 33,000 people in the country.

Clubs returned to group training on May 19 but competitive action remains suspended until mid-June.The indications are that Spadafora and the government’s Scientific Technical Committee will agree to both implementing a health protocol and to resume the season.If there is a green light on Thursday, Lega Serie A will meet Friday to examine "the different calendar hypotheses" for the remaining Serie A and Italian Cup matches.

The league wants competition to resume on the weekend of June 13-14, starting with four postponed fixtures -- Atalanta-Sassuolo, Verona-Cagliari, Inter Milan-Sampdoria and Torino-Parma.

They hope the season will resume fully on June 20, with the goal of awarding the league title, defining promotions and relegations, before playing Italian Cup semi-finals, with the final in early August. The closing stages of the European club competitions could also be played in August. Three Italian clubs are still in the Champions League and two in the Europa League.But not everyone agrees with a return to the pitch and the packed schedule required with teams needing to play three matches a week, in hot summer conditions.