ROME - Italian Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora looks set to
partially satisfy seemingly contradictory requests from Serie A teams
to loosen the coronavirus protocol for team training due to resume
next week.
Spadafora late on Friday addressed the clubs' complaints about having
to train for two weeks in isolation and the fact that team doctors
could bear legal liability for possible contagion, which would also
lead to a new 14-day quarantine for the whole group of footballers
and staff.
"Football training can resume on Monday, as for all other team
sports," the minister told private broadcaster Rete 4. "And this will
happen according to a protocol that neither I nor the [government's]
scientific panel have proposed, but that, a month ago, was proposed
to me by domestic federation FGIC and Serie A."
Spadafora said he is willing to allow footballers and staff to return
home after the sessions, but distancing will then have to be observed
while training.
Rules that set a full quarantine in case of a single infection could
also be reassessed if the country's contagion levels keep dropping,
which could also allow a June 13 restart of the league, as proposed
by the Lega.
There are reports that INAIL, the state agency that regulates
accidents at work, has loosened the guidelines affecting team
doctors' medical liability in case of coronavirus contagion.