Coronavirus: Sassuolo become first Serie A club to announce return to training

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Rome, May 2: Sassuolo have become the first Serie A team to announce a resumption of training activities amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Optional individual sessions will be allowed to take place at the Mapei Football Center from Monday, although social distancing rules must be complied with and there can be no mass gatherings.

A decree issued by the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy on Thursday opened the door for Sassuolo, SPAL, Bologna and Parma to return to training next week.

The rest of the Serie A clubs have to wait until at least May 18, which is the day after the Italian government's existing lockdown measures are due to expire.

A Sassuolo statement read: "Players will only be allowed access to the pitches in compliance with rules of social distancing, while access to the Sports Center (locker rooms, gyms, offices) will be prohibited.

"The individual sessions, which will take place during the mornings from Monday to Friday, with the use of three fields, with six players per hour (one player for each half of the pitch), will not be attended by the technical staff, while an emergency health supervision will be guaranteed."

It was reported on Friday that all 20 Serie A clubs had voted to see out the rest of the 2019-20 season, which has been suspended since March 9 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

A date for the return of competitive fixtures is yet to be confirmed.

While the Premier League, Bundesliga and LaLiga are also committed to finishing the campaign, the Eredivisie and Ligue 1 this week cancelled their seasons prematurely.

There have been over 209,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and more than 28,000 deaths in Italy.