Italian Football Federation (FIGC) President Gabriele Gravina insists that a new wave of COVID-19 cases will not see Serie A paused, whilst Inter’s challenge for the Scudetto will not be decided by a play-off.
The initial outbreak of the coronavirus in Italy saw football stopped between March and June last year, affecting last season and leading to suggestions that key positions and titles could be decided by play-offs if the season could not resume.
With rising cases across the country, fears are growing that Serie A could face a repeat of the previous campaign and leave Inter without the opportunity to capitalise on their six point lead at the top, but newly re-elected Gravina moved to assuage such concerns.
“The third wave with it’s variants affects younger people and this is worrying, but I don’t think it will affect football,” Gravina claimed in an interview published in today’s newspaper edition of Corriere dello Sport.
“The proven application of the protocols and constant monitoring are a guarantee for the health of athletes. The infections so far have been limited. The leagues are not at risk.
“I would be sorry if somebody was secretly pushing for playoffs. You know I favour them generally, but these are certainly not the conditions to be introducing them.”
Coronavirus outbreaks across squads have wreaked havoc in Serie A, with Lazio’s match against Torino abandoned on the day of the match after the Granata reported a number of cases.
“The sporting judiciary should decide if matches are played. I will limit myself to saying only that the protocols also work in providing force majeure. Nobody can claim that our jurisdiction has priority over the laws of the state. Of course, it would be better if the assessments of the public health service were uniform throughout the country.”
Gravina also assessed the financial impact of the coronavirus on football in Italy, with the sport losing €600 million in revenue over the past year, and painted a bleak picture for the short term future.
“It will be more or less the same this year. In addition to the loss from ticket sales, we will have the collapse of sponsors. The inability to offer hospitality in the stadiums discourages contracts. The loss will be significant, we are studying a negotiation of funds from existing members,” Gravina continued.
Ahead of the European Championship this summer, players will not receive priority access to immunisation, unlike Olympic athletes, but Gravina was optimistic that a similar agreement could be reached.
“I hope and believe that we can reach the same stage, which is why football clubs made their facilities available to accelerate the vaccination programme. All clubs have health organisations, including doctors, physios and other specialist staff.
“We offer this network to administer the vaccinations and we want to make our contribution. We are present throughout the country with structures and facilities, all over Italy,” Gravina concluded.
