This archive report was first published on 19 May 2020.
Italy's Serie A teams have been given the green light to resume group training, a significant step towards restarting the season, which has been on hold since March 9 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
On May 19, Italian Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora announced that the government's Scientific Technical Committee had approved the Italian Football Federation's (FIGC) revised health protocol, allowing collective training to resume.
According to Spadafora, the revised protocol includes clarifications on quarantine time in case of a positive test, avoiding the initial self-isolation requirement.
However, the decision on whether to restart the season remains uncertain, with Spadafora slated to meet with FIGC President Gabriele Gravina and Lega Serie A Chief Paolo Dal Pino on May 28 to discuss the return to competition.
Spadafora emphasized the importance of restarting the season with the intention of completing the championship, with the modalities and formats to be adopted by the federations.
FIGC President Gravina praised the decision as a 'decisive step on the path of restarting football in Italy.'
The Italian season has been on hold since March 9, with more than 32,000 people killed by the pandemic in Italy.
Serie A teams have been training individually since May 4, with the original plan to return to competition on June 13 pushed back to June 14 due to a government decree suspending all sports competitions until next month.
