We won’t see any Serie A matches until April 3rd

The Italian Olympic committee officially announced on Monday that due to the spread of coronavirus, Serie A matches will not take place for three weeks. Here are the details on the situation.

The coronavirus continues to affect sporting events around the world, but especially in Italy. With the most confirmed cases of any country in Europe – 7,000 cases with 300 deaths – the Italian national Olympic committee has shutdown all sporting activities including the Serie A for the next three weeks.

This announcement comes just hours after all Italian league matches were played in empty stadiums with fans banned from entering the ground due to the fear associated with the virus’ ability to quickly spread.

What was supposed to be one of the matches of the season between Juventus and Inter Milan was nothing more than a scrimmage with the Juventus stadium as quiet as a library.

The ban from the Olympic committee applies only to domestic matches and will not carry over to Champions League or Europa League matches. Therefore, Juventus will still host Lyon in Turin on the 17th and Inter will host Getafe on the 12th.

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It is curious what the league will decide to do with these three or four matches each team will not be able to play during this suspension of play. Will the matches be rescheduled for May? Will they be scrapped for good?

This also calls into question the status for the Euro 2020 tournament set to take place this summer in several countries. The tourney will begin on June 12th in, you guessed it, Italy.

The match is scheduled to take place at AS Roma’s home, the Stadio Olympico, but could be moved entirely or delayed to accommodate the changes made to the domestic league schedule.

When I saw this news, I immediately felt bad for the Italian teams still alive in European cup competitions. While it could be considered a blessing in disguise not having to juggle the league and the cups, I see it as a disadvantage.

While staying fit and well-rested are of the utmost importance here at the business end of the campaign, most players are probably anxious to play matches and either improve their standing in the table or solidify their position.

For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.