Italy could follow France and Netherlands in calling an end to football season

Italian sports minister says it is increasingly unlikely Serie A will resume

The Italian sports minister has cast doubt on the football season resuming.

The Italian sports minister says it is increasingly unlikely the Serie A football season will resume.

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte had announced on Sunday that professional sports teams can resume training on May 18. That meant Serie A could resume playing games in June.

But sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora has told the Italian television channel LA7 that “resuming training absolutely does not mean resuming the season.”

He added that he sees “the path to restarting Serie A getting ever narrower” and that if he was among the presidents of football teams “I would be thinking about next season.”

France and the Netherlands have already declared their seasons over. The English Premier League, the German Bundesliga and Serie A have said they want to finish.

The French government called off the season in that country on Tuesday, while the Dutch declared their season null and void in the top two divisions last Friday.

Spadafora thinks that could push Italy to do the same.

“These decisions (in France and in the Netherlands) could push Italy to follow this line, which would become a European line,” Spadafora said.

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