Vice president of the Italian Footballers’ Association Umberto Calcagno discussed the restart of the season and the issue of playing games in the hot afternoon sun in an interview with Italian radio broadcaster Radio Punto Nuovo earlier today.
“It is necessary to remove the afternoon slot and play only in the two pre-evening and evening games. Playing at 16-16.30 at certain times of the year is a problem in the South, as well as elsewhere. Cancelling the afternoon games and playing over several days is the best solution.”
Calcagno suggested that removing those time slots would be the safest way to ensure that the players aren’t subject to dangerous conditions, especially considering the lack of regularity in their physical preparations and schedule.
“It’s a way to protect the health of the players who will be subjected to a crazy period. The players’ concern stems from the fact that no one has experience of such a long period of inactivity.”
Serie A will restart on the 20th June, three months after being stopped due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Italy has moved past the worst stages of the virus and is slowly removing the lockdown measures, giving some level of normalcy to the Italian people, who have spent months inside their homes in lockdown. Other leagues around Europe are also planning to restart, following on from the German Bundesliga’s decision to restart a few weeks ago. The Premier League and La Liga will also restart next month.
