Serie A matches have been suspended by Italian Football Federation (FIGC) until 3 April as the Coronavirus continues to run rampant in Italy. Plans are being made to possibly cut the season short should the situation worsen.
As the worst affected European country, Italy is now pulling out all the stops to contain the Corona Virus.
The Italian Football Federation confirmed on Tuesday that it would be suspending the Serie A top-flight football until April 3.
This announcement came after Olympiacos owner Evangelos Marinakis tested positive for the Coronavirus. It was as a result of this that the Premier League game between Arsenal and Manchester City was postponed while several Arsenal players underwent self-quarantine after coming into contact with Marinakis after the Europa 2nd leg game on February 27.
FIGC have also begun looking into the possibility of cutting the Serie A season short should the situation not improve in time.
FIGC President Gabriele Gravina has suggested possible scenarios in which to determine how the standings would be decided as a league champion must be determined as well as choosing teams that will qualify for Champions League, Europa and relegation.
He suggested that teams may have to go through a playoff to decide which clubs fall into the necessary categories.
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The possible scenarios will be discussed on March 23 once the organizers have assessed the extent of the Coronavirus outbreak at that time.
The outbreak on Italy has not only affected the Italian football program but has had ripple effects across various competitions outside of Italy.
The Premier League have been forced to postpone the game between Arsenal and Manchester City due to their interaction with the Olympiacos boss.
Wolves already put in a plea to have their Europa game against Olympiacos either postponed or cancelled due to he news about Marinakis as well as the situation on the ground in Italy.
Getafe president Angel Torres has refused for his team to travel for their Inter Milan game scheduled for Thursday 12 March stating:
“Unless it changes a lot before the morning, Getafe will not travel to Milan,”
“We have asked UEFA to look for an alternative venue for the Milan game,”
“We don’t want to go into the middle of the coronavirus, we don’t need to. We have asked for help too from the Spanish federation to demand that the game be suspended.”
“If we lose the tie, then we lose the tie,” he continued. “I won’t be the one to assume any sort of risk. We were really hopeful about this game but if it has to be like this, then that’s the way it is.”
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Italy now follow in the footsteps of China who also had to suspend the start of their top-flight football League this season due to the Coronavirus.
With Games suspended in Italy, fears are that many other Leagues and competitions around Europe may suffer the same fate and not be able to finish out their seasons as the virus continues to spread.
