Juventus defender Daniele Rugani’s agent, Davide Torchia, discussed the Coronavirus emergency and its effect on Italian football in an interview with Italian radio station TMW Radio earlier today.
“Thinking about how the world of football will go on seems to me the least of the problems right now.”
Torchia then discussed how the contagion is affecting both football and Italy as a whole, whilst also highlighting a potential solution to allow the league to finish regularly.
“It’s an important slice of our life, for the State also from the economic point of view. The players will know how to behave. I think you can play until August or September, then a stop of a few weeks and we’ll start again with the 2020/21 season. It’s a simple solution. If some are still thinking about the Scudetto, they’re completely off target.”
Torchia’s client, the 25-year-old Italian defender Daniele Rugani, is contracted to Juventus until 2024. The player was the first top player in Italy to test positive for the Coronavirus, forcing the Bianconeri squad to go into quarantine. Other players have since tested positive, such as Argentine forward Paulo Dybala and French midfielder Blaise Matuidi.
Other players, however, have broken the government ordered lockdown and returned to their native countries, such as Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo and Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanic. Rugani’s positive test was only 11 days, meaning that the squad should have undergone a 14-day quarantine.