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Italian football season to start on June 17 with Coppa Italia, not Serie A

Lega Serie A also confirmed that the decision was taken after receiving a green light from Italy’s Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora.

Italian football season to start on June 17 with Coppa Italia, not Serie A

(From L) Juventus' Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, Juventus' Argentinian forward Gonzalo Higuain, Juventus' Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo, Juventus' Italian defender Leonardo Bonucci and Juventus' Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanic acknowledge the public at the end of the Italian Cup (Coppa Italia) round of 8 football match Juventus vs AS Roma on January 22, 2020 at the Juventus stadium in Turin. (Photo by Marco Bertorello / AFP)

The Italian football session will resume on June 17 – three days before Serie A restarts – with the final stages of the Coppa Italia, voted all the 20 top-tier clubs.

Lega Serie A also confirmed that the decision was taken after receiving a green light from Italy’s Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora. However, the dates of the semi-finals of Coppa Italia are yet to be decided.

“The assembly of Lega Serie A met today in the presence of all 20 associated clubs in a video conference. The clubs welcomed the green light to the return of Serie A communicated yesterday by minister Spadafora and unanimously voted on the dispute of the four matches of the 25th matchday (Atalanta v Sassuolo, Hellas Verona v Cagliari, Inter v Sampdoria and Torino v Parma) on the weekend of June 20-21 and the planning of matchday 27 starting from Monday, June 22,” Serie A said in an official statement.

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“Furthermore, welcoming the wish of minister Spadafora, the sporting activity of the 2019-20 season will resume immediately with the Coppa Italia, of which the final is scheduled. Dates and times of the matches will be announced by Lega Serie A in the coming days,” it added.

The Italian Sports Minister had announced on Thursday that the 2019-20 season of Serie A would resume on June 20 after a suspension of more than three months due to the global crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Italy has been one of the worst-hit countries by the virus.

The decision, announced by Minister of Sport Vincenzo Spadafora after less than an hour of virtual discussions with officials from the Italian Football Federation and representatives of Serie A, players, coaches, and referees on Thursday, comes after weeks of contentious talks and widespread media speculation on the topic, reports Xinhua news agency.

“Italy is reopening (and) it is correct that the football season should restart as well,” Spadafora told reporters as quoted by IANS.

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