Italy due to hold training camp at national training base Coverciano near Florence ahead of friendly vs England at Wembley on March 27
Monday 24 February 2020 21:51, UK
Inter Milan's Europa League match against Ludogorets will be played behind closed doors over coronavirus fears - while more Serie A fixtures could be set for the same fate.
Bulgarian side Ludogorets had written to UEFA to request information about the coronavirus situation, with the second leg scheduled for Thursday at San Siro Stadium, which will now be played without fans in attendance.
The Italian government, meanwhile, is moving towards having Serie A matches played behind closed doors in affected areas as authorities try to contain the spreading coronavirus that has made northern Italy the focal point of the outbreak in Europe.
Serie A president Paolo Dal Pinto sent a letter to the government on Monday asking if games can played without fans in attendance, noting there is little time for make-up dates considering all elite football competitions must be completed by May 24 because of the upcoming European Championships.
Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora also proposed the closed-door plan to Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte.Playing all sports behind closed doors for the next week could be possible, because then fans can more easily stay at home, said Maurizio Casasco, the president of the Italian federation for sports physicians.
But the clubs have to be in agreement, and there's more than just football in Italy.
The Italian national team are due to hold a training camp at their national training base Coverciano near Florence ahead of friendlies against England at Wembley and Germany at Max-Morlock-Stadion in Nuremberg next month.
Meanwhile, four Serie A games scheduled for the previous round on Sunday were postponed, including Inter Milan's game against Sampdoria at the San Siro.
Also on Monday, the first board meeting for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics was changed to a video conference instead of being held in Milan.
Members of the newly created board of directors for the 2026 Games called in from their respective offices in the Lombardy and Veneto regions, the areas hardest hit by the virus, the Italian Olympic Committee said.
Juventus, based in Turin, are due to to host Inter next Sunday, in a match which sees the return of former coach Antonio Conte. Other games scheduled for northern Italy next weekend include Udinese vs Fiorentina on Saturday and AC Milan vs Genoa on Sunday.
French club Lyon were in contact with UEFA and French authorities over concern about the 2,500-3,000 Juventus fans travelling over the border to a Champions League game in the French city on Wednesday.
Juventus shares fell 11 per cent on the Milan stock exchange in early trading on Monday, forcing a suspension in trading.
Juventus also announced their museum at the Allianz Stadium would remain closed until at least Saturday. Stadium tours were also suspended.
Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malag said on Sunday that playing games behind closed doors was problematic. However, it may be the only solution for now.
With fewer concerns in southern Italy, Napoli's Champions League match against Barcelona on Tuesday is set to be played as planned.
Serie C cancelled all games in its A and B leagues, which have teams in the north. Volleyball and rugby games were also suspended nationwide through next weekend.
Civil protection officials said more than 200 people had tested positive for the virus in Italy and five people had died, including two elderly men in northern Lombardy. It is the highest number of cases outside Asia.
Officials still had not pinpointed the origin of Italy's outbreak and were struggling to contain the number of cases, which by Monday had spread to a half-dozen of regions and prompted Austria to temporarily halt rail traffic across its border with Italy.
Meanwhile, in South Korea, local football authorities indefinitely postponed the start of the 2020 season.
The K League made the announcement after an emergency meeting in Seoul as the country grapples with the outbreak.
The number of reported cases in South Korea reached 763 on Monday, including seven deaths. Mainland China has reported 2,592 deaths among 77,150 cases.
Also in Asia, the Japanese hockey federation cancelled its national women's team's games against North America's top players because of the virus.
The Italian Winter Sports Federation suspended all of its events throughout the country for an entire week, although it said that for now next weekends World Cup ski races in La Thuile in the Valle dAosta region were still to go ahead.
Those races are operated by the International Ski Federation, which has already cancelled races this season in China that were set to test the course for the 2022 Beijing Games.
Women's super-G and Alpine combined are scheduled for next Saturday and Sunday, respectively. The Italian federation said it is in constant contact with the authorities over the developing situation.
Italy is also set to host the World Cup ski finals in Cortina d'Ampezzo from March 18-22.
Holding the ski races without fans could also be an option.
