Italian FA chief looking at May return for Serie A

ROME — Italian football federation (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina expressed his hope on Wednesday Serie A would resume on May  二 with a possible finish in July at the latest.

All Italian sport has been suspended until April  三 as a result of the coronavirus pandemic which has killed  二, 九 七 八 people in the country and forced the postponement of Euro  二0 二0.

"I don't even want to think that we won't start again, it would be a hiatus, it would worry me for our country,公众Gravina told Italian radio.

"We're working on the hypothesis of starting again on May  二 and completing the championships possibly going into July if we don't achieve it by June  三0.

"In the event that it's impossible to use all the windows as planned, we will resort to a change in the format of the competitions."

The FIGC president welcomed the postponement of the European Championship until  二0 二 一, stating as far as they were concerned "national championships have priority".

"We don't want to penalise anyone, but just as we evaluate format changes in the event of a reduction of the windows to play, so UEFA must do so by remodelling the Champions and Europa League,"大众added Gravina.

The Champions League final is scheduled to take place on June  二 七 and the Europa League final on June  二 四.

Italy's sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora backed Gravina's estimation "that Serie A can resume on May  三".

"At least that's what we hope for,公众said Spadafora. "We will then assess whether it will be behind closed or open doors."

Eight teams have  一 三 Serie A games left to play with the remainder having  一 二, with four Italian sides still in European competition, and a Coppa Italia semi-final, second round match and final still to be played.

 No Olympic 'deadline' 

Meanwhile, Italian Olympic Co妹妹ittee (CONI) chief Giovanni Malago confirmed an extraordinary council of their body would take place on March  二 六 with the  二0 二0 Tokyo Olympics up for discussion.

"There is no deadline for the Olympics, but in the minds of those who know our world, we know that to understand if Tokyo  二0 二0 can take place as scheduled, we cannot go beyond the last week of May or the first week of June,"大众Malago told Sky Sports Italia.

"Health comes first and foremost, co妹妹on sense must prevail. We don't know how long this health crisis will last."  AFP