The clubs of Serie A ask for permission to resume training in Italy.

The signs of improvement, although slow, in the data on the contagion of coronavirus in Italy convinced the clubs of Serie A to ask the Government for permission to resume training from May 4, a proposal that the Minister of Sports, Vincenzo Spadafora, will study in the coming days.

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) officialized its position in a two-hour video conference organized this Wednesday with Spadafora, in which the federal president, Gabriele Gravina, and his counterparts from Serie A, Paolo Dal Pino, the Association of Footballers (AIC), Damiano Tommasi, and the Association of Coaches, Renzo Ulivieri, participated.

"I listened with great attention to the different positions of the clubs and, in the coming days, after meeting with the Minister of Health and the Scientific Technical Committee, we will update the provisions on the possibilities and modalities for resuming training," the Ministry of Sports reported in a note.

"The meeting allowed a more in-depth analysis of the aspects related to the possible resumption of training in total safety for athletes and coaches of sports clubs," it added.

If in recent weeks several clubs expressed their pessimism about the real chances of finishing the campaign, in recent days there has been more optimism in the leadership of Italian football.

The final decision on the eventual resumption of training and, subsequently, the championships belongs to the Government, and Spadafora highlighted in a speech in the Senate the importance of sport for the country's system.

Thus, the ten days that separate from May 4 will be crucial to decide the future of the 2019-2020 Serie A season.

"We will study, before May 4, if training can be resumed. We must resume sports activity because it is important economically and socially, but we must do it while respecting the health of the citizens, we must do it gradually," said Spadafora.

"Gradually, we can think of allowing the training of athletes. Regarding the championships, we will study the options together with the scientific technical committee of the Civil Protection, having in mind that resuming them is important, but always safeguarding the health of citizens," he added.

In a context where basketball, volleyball, or rugby declared their seasons closed due to uncertainty about the evolution of the coronavirus, football, facing the biggest economic losses, is doing everything possible to find a way to end the year.

In fact, in this month and a half of forced pause, it is estimated that there have already been economic damages exceeding 150 million euros, and a definitive abandonment would cost up to one billion euros to the football system, between ticket money, sponsors, and television rights.

To contain this economic damage, players from Juventus Turin, Parma, and Roma voluntarily agreed with their clubs to reduce their annual wages.

The other clubs are still negotiating with their players and the AIC for a possible reduction in salaries.