Italy halts Serie A season, and all sports, due to coronavirus: What could happen next?
The coronavirus has forced Italy to postpone all sporting events until April 3. What could happen next for Serie A should the health crisis get worse?
The novel coronavirus outbreak has hit Italy incredibly hard, with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte calling it the country’s “darkest hour,” as lock-down measures have been expanded across the country. Thousands have been infected — a number that grows with each passing day — and hundreds of others have died from it, with Italy being the second-hardest hit country behind China.
At the same time, Serie A officials, the government and the various clubs are locked in a fight over what to do with the rest of the soccer season. Measures from postponing games to playing them behind closed doors have already been used as coronavirus spread, yet it all feels very strange at a time when sports takes a backseat to what ails the country.
On Monday, officials decided to halt all sports leagues across the country until April 3 in the hope that the coronavirus situation gets better over the next few weeks. As the health crisis worsens, it seems like there is only one sensible thing to do: cancel the Serie A season. Nonetheless, officials remain optimistic that it can be completed.
Serie A resumed this past Sunday with five matches, all played behind closed doors, in eerily empty stadiums, including the top-of-the-table clash that saw Juventus defeat Inter Milan 2-0. Healthy Italians forced to stay home watched the games live on TV, a distraction from the chaos around them and whether they would remain quarantined.
At the same time, Italy has seen a surge of deaths over the last few days, which prompted the decision by Italy’s Olympic Committee, the organization which oversees all sports in Italy. Serie A officials are scheduled to hold a meeting Tuesday to discuss the remainder of the season.
Over the weekend, Italian Footballers’ Association president Damiano Tommasi, a former Roma player, tweeted that “stopping football is the most useful thing for our country right now.”
“The teams to cheer are playing in our hospitals, in emergency rooms,” he wrote of the first-responders working around the clock to contain the outbreak.
It does seem trivial to play games in empty stadiums while fellow citizens die. But financial interested have been pressure on the league and teams to keep playing. Just 12 matchdays remain in the season. Defending champions Juventus currently hold a one-point lead over Lazio. Serie A, meanwhile, has not been cancelled since World War II. Indeed, chaos has descended upon Italy and its soccer season.
With the season on hold for the next three weeks, here are three scenarios that can play out:
Ask UEFA to move or postpone the European Championship
The calendar is where the biggest trouble comes in completing the season. Waiting things out and then finishing the season afterward would seem like an obvious solution, but the season has to end by May in order to give Italy time to prepare for this summer’s European Championship.
The Euros will run for a month from June 12 through July 12, across Europe. The opening match is scheduled to be played in Rome, an unlikely scenario at this point.
UEFA has yet to make a decision on its tournament. Moving the Euros to the fall or next summer would give Serie A a chance to resume the league season and have it end later, even it it extends into the summer.
Play games abroad
Serie A teams could always be flown to other countries to finish out the season. But where?
That’s a good question given that no country seems safe from the virus. Nonetheless, it is a consideration since places like the United States, for example, have not yet canceled all large events at sports venues.
It would also allow players to leave the country and remain quarantined for their safety. If the games were to be played in another European city, it would also allow for teams involved in European competitions like the Champions League to keep playing games.
End the season now
This extreme scenario (and one that could happen should things remain unchanged or get worse) would include ending the season now and declaring no winner.
Although unlikely, this decision is not welcomed by all. It would erase, for example, the wonderful season Lazio has had. Some have already argued that the season has been a farce given the unbalanced schedule and on-again, off-again nature of games. It allowed some teams more days of rest, while others were hampered by having to play with no fans backing them.
On the flip side, the season could be officially terminated and the title given to Juventus, who are currently in first place. That, too, would not be welcomed by most teams outside of the league leaders.
What about the teams that appeared to be relegated? What about the ones in Serie B, the second division, that seemed destined to be promoted? It remains all very chaotic.
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For more information about COVID-19, visit the CDC’s website or the website for your state’s Department of Health.