The Italian government has shut down all sporting activities in the country in order to help prevent the continues spread of coronavirus. The statement was released yesterday by the Olympic committee CONI. This includes Serie A and other sports in the country the exception is the Italian clubs or national teams participating in international competitions.
Those playing the UEFA Champions League are allowed to continue in their competition but the Serie A to Serie C has been put on a hold. Initially, they were to be playing their games indoors but it has affected the economy and it is not also very safe to do so, so they came up with the idea to shut down until the 2nd of April.
The last Serie A game that was played in Italy was the game between Sassuolo and Brescia which ended 3-0 in favor of the home side. Sassuolo’s goal scoer Francesco Caputo displayed a write up which reads: “EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE, STAY AT HOME.” It was played behind closed doors with no fans at all to cheer the players up. Italy has been the worst European country with the virus, it has recorded over 9,000 confirmed cases and more than 450 deaths in just two months.
The Shut Down News Came in Last Night
The announcement from CONI came just after Sassuolo v Brescia kicked off in Serie A. It was also confirmed on Monday that Serie A side Roma’s Europa League tie at Sevilla on Thursday will be played behind closed doors. Juventus hosted Inter Milan in Turin on sunday and it was also played behind closed doors because Juventus Under 23 team is currently under quarantine for the disease already.
In rugby union, England’s men’s and women’s Six Nations matches against Italy, which were scheduled to take place on 14 March and 15 March respectively, were postponed last week. The Italian sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora has accused Serie A of being “irresponsible” after they ignored his calls for suspension and shut down of all Serie A games due to the virus.
He said it made “no sense” for football to continue when, at that stage, up to 16 million people had been placed in quarantine in northern Italy. And as they try to contain the spread of the virus more cases are still being reported although all the games were played behind closed doors it was still wrong on his opinion.
There are reports that even the French top flight football league will have their games played behind closed doors. All this measures are to prevent and control the spread of the coronavirus, Paris St-Germain’s Champions League last-16 match against Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday will be played without fans because of coronavirus.
