Coronavirus: Serie A could resume in May or June – AIC president Tommasi

Rome, March 16: Italian Footballers' Association (AIC) president Damiano Tommasi said the Serie A season could resume in May or June if all goes well amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Serie A and all domestic sport in Italy has been suspended until at least April 3, while the country is in lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Outside of China, Italy has been the hardest hit by coronavirus, with at least 1,809 deaths and more than 24,700 cases.

As Italy struggles to cope amid growing calls for Euro 2020 to be postponed, AIC boss Tommasi told Che Tempo Che Fa: "It's clearly impossible to start playing at the beginning of April.

We'll hug each other again. Everything is gonna be allright. pic.twitter.com/BShGDX1qjj

— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) March 14, 2020

"If all goes well, we can resume in May or June. When we talk about football, people think we are only ensuring the safety of players, but there's a whole world behind the team.

"The first to be contaminated were in Serie C with Pianese, and their kit man is still in intensive care. Juventus have 100 people under quarantine.

"These are people who travel all around Italy and Europe, meeting many, many people during the course of their work. The problem is not just Italian, but European, so UEFA have to behave like the European Union."

Prior to the Serie A hiatus, defending champions Juventus topped the table by one point ahead of Lazio.

The last top-flight fixture was between Sassuolo and Brescia, with the former winning 3-0 on March 9.