The Technical Scientific Committee (CTS) has approved the medical protocol to restart Serie A games.
The report states that the FIGC, Lega Serie A and Players’ Association ‘appreciated the detail of the analysis’ presented by the CTS.
The last Serie A match was played on March 9, prior to the lockdown. The probable date to resume play is June 13, but it will be either for the pending semi-finals of Coppa Italia or the remaining Week 25 fixtures that were postponed at the outbreak’s start.
In either case, Italian sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora is due to decide today when and if the Series A season can resume.
This was a fundamental step towards giving the all-clear for matches after the coronavirus pandemic to get back on track.
This new protocol still includes mass quarantine for one positive case, according to news agency ANSA. That means if one person in the group – player or member of staff – tests positive for COVID-19, that individual is quarantined, while the whole group has to go to a 14-day training ground retreat in isolation.
The quarantine rule remains the same as for the contact training protocol, despite calls for it to be changed or scrapped.
This remains an issue for the clubs and has been criticized by Professor Enrico Castellacci, President of the Italian Sport Medics Association.
“I would bet on the Serie A season starting up again, but I’m not sure I’d bet on it reaching a conclusion,” former Italy chief medic Castellacci told Radio Capital. “With one positive case and the 14-day rule, I would see that as the end to the season.”
