Italian footballers and athletes will not be allowed to train together as Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced on Wednesday the extension of the country’s lockdown until April 13.
All
sport in Italy had been suspended from early March until April 3 as a
result of the coronavirus pandemic which has killed 13 115 people in the
country.
Conte said in a televised address to the nation on
Wednesday that the lockdown would be extended and would now also include
training sessions.
All organised
soccer in Spain has been on hold since March 10 due to the spread of
the deadly virus although Jaume Roures, CEO of Spanish multimedia group
Mediapro, predicted that matches could resume behind closed doors in
three months’ time.
“I expect football to return in July,
certainly without supporters, but first of all there would have to be a
pre-season campaign,” Roures told radio station Cadena Cope on
Wednesday.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is keeping in touch with his Manchester United stars as he deals with the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus.
The Premier League has been postponed until at least 30 April because
of the pandemic and it is feared the season will be delayed again when English football’s stakeholders meet to discuss the crisis on Friday.
During the unsettling virus lockdown in Britain, United manager Solskjaer has been unable to train his squad in person.
But he has been in constant contact with players and staff on the
phone in a bid to ensure they are ready, if and when matches can resume.