AIC president Damiano Tommasi discussed the return to Serie A and the safety of the players in an interview in today’s paper edition of the Bari based newspaper Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno.
“Surely today the voice of the players and footballers does not carry the weight it needs in a phase where returning to training and playing means not being able to comply with safety regulations.
“Attention must be paid for all the people who will come into contact with the athletes and that is why any protocol must be thought of and agreed upon with the widest possible consensus.”
He then moved onto talking about the about the protocols given by the Italian Technical Scientific Commission.
“To date, we have no idea what the final changes are. The previous protocol was very rigid and certainly complicated, especially in the absence of adequate structures.
“To date we cannot afford to move forward and risk risky attitudes that could boomerang in case of a positive test. It makes no sense today to risk restarting if the mandatory quarantine provision remains as it is today.
“However, another aspect that is little considered is the concern for those who test positive. What could be the consequences for the individual? What is really at risk? A good overview of the risks would also help to make the correct decision.”
The AIC president discussed how the final games of the season will be played behind closed doors, without a crowd present.
“It is an unavoidable side effect in this emergency. It will be a different and less adrenaline-filled football, at least hopefully it will help to make footballers and fans appreciate even more the beauty of a loud stadium when they can fill it again.”
Finally, Tommasi spoke about the players’ salary cuts and how confusing the situation is considering the variety of contracts that players are bound by in Italy.
“The salary cut is always linked to the two factors, namely the drastic reduction in income and the actual performance of the work. Not knowing whether you return to the field, how, for how long and not having certain data, to date, on actual losses makes any decision complex and very subjective.
“Players who have multi-annual agreements are not in the same position as those who have their contracts expiring, as well as clubs that are not certain of the league in which they will be in next year, find it difficult to plan any contractual reshaping.”
Serie A is hoping to return next month, in the second week of June. Squads returned to their training centres last week to restart individual training sessions, with squad training set to restart near the end of the month. The German Bundesliga restarted today, giving Serie A a system to learn from.
