The decision to carry on with Serie A matches over the weekend in Italy has been branded as being irresponsible by the Italian Sports’Minister, Vincenzo Spadafora. Italy is home to the worst outbreak of the Coronavirus in terms of numbers, spread and fatalities in all of Europe. Hard on the heels of this news, the Italian government has now in effect put 16 million of its citizens into quarantine. The COVID-19 virus originated from a seafood market in Wuhan, China. The market does not sell only seafood. It also trades illegally, selling bats, birds, marmots, rabbits and snakes. It is believed that it was the stallholders in the market that first contracted the virus through contact with the animals on sale.
Despite the severity of the outbreak in Italy, football matches were played in the country's top-flight Serie A league as scheduled on Sunday. However, members of the public were forbidden to attend, and all of the games took place behind closed doors. Nonetheless, Italy’s Sports Minister was unrelenting in his criticism when he said that the matches went ahead through an irresponsible act of both Serie A and its president, Paolo dal Pino. The minister went on to say that the world of football feels that it is immune to rules and sacrifices. Among the games played was the top of the table clash between Juventus and Inter Milan. Juve won the game by 2-0 with goals from Aaron Ramsey and Paulo Dyabla. It keeps Juventus at the top of the table with Inter occupying third place nine points behind. Lazio are in second place on 62 points, one point adrift of Juventus who have 63 points.
Juve’s director, Fabio Paratici, told Sky Sports that is was a little strange, playing football unwatched by fans, saying that it was sad for the fans and the players. He explained how the team had practiced in an empty stadium beforehand to try and get used to the situation. However, he didn’t think they would ever get used to it. After the games took place on Sunday, there were rumours that the Serie A season might be suspended on Tuesday once government officials have held talks with the league and representatives of the players. Unlike Italy, in England, Premier League fixtures continue to be played to packed stadiums. There are not many Italian footballers in the Premiership, (only eight), but Chelsea have two of them - Emerson Palmieri dos Santos and Jorge Luiz Frello Filho, more popularly known as Jorginho. Chelsea are in great form at the moment. They beat Everton 4-0 on Sunday. Chelsea manager, Frank Lampard, was pleased with the result, particularly as it meant showing the Everton manager, Carlo Ancelloti, who managed Chelsea between 2009 and 2011, how the Chelsea side is now playing. Chelsea's win sees them in 4th position in the league, and they look like holding on to that all-important Champions League qualifying position for 2021.
Former player Shaun Wright-Phillips said in a recent interview that he thought the London club has the quality to win the Champions League this year. However, after they went down 3-0 to Bayern Munich at Stamford Bridge in February, that now looks very doubtful. Whether or not the next round of the UEFA Champions League goes ahead or not is yet to be decided. Italy’s upcoming decision may influence that outcome. Perhaps those games too, if they do go ahead, will also have to be played behind closed doors. Liverpool players, officials and supporters are currently living with the fear that the actuality of their expected, historic Premier League triumph will also take place unseen by their fans. One thing is unfortunately quite clear, and that is that we haven’t yet seen the worst of the COVID-19 outbreak.
