MILAN: Italian sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora warned on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila) that Italy may have to follow France and the Netherlands and call an end to their football and sports seasons because of the coronavirus pandemic. However, Italian Football Federation chief Gabriele Gravina warned that such a decision would signal “the death of Italian football.”“I see an increasingly narrow path for the resumption of the championship. The Dutch football federation called an end to the 2019-2020 season last week. The Italian championship was put on hold on March 9 because of the virus which has killed over 27,000 lives in the country. The government has allowed individual athletes to resume training but team sports, including football, must wait until at least May 18.

Source: Manila Times April 30, 2020 16:38 UTC