This weekend’s upcoming Serie A games will go ahead but six matches will be carried out behind closed doors, including the massive game between Juventus and Inter on Sunday.
Four matches had to be postponed on Sunday after Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced a shutdown of all sporting events in the north of Italy amid fears of the spread of coronavirus.
The suspension order was initially only applied to the Veneto and Lombardy regions, but it was later extended to four more areas in Italy.
There were fears that it could cause problems with the Serie A fixture schedule, but Minister of Sport Vincenzo Spadafora says matches in areas affected by coronavirus will go ahead but supporters will not be allowed to attend.
‘Measures are already in force that prohibit any events until next Sunday,’ Spadafora told Tg2.
‘Initially for Lombardy, Veneto and Piedmont. Now we have also extended to Friuli Venezia Giulia, Emilia Romagna and Liguria.
‘In these regions, the prohibition of sporting events remains, for some events we have given the availability to carry them out behind closed doors.’
That means six games will be played behind closer doors, with four being open as per usual as the measure ‘has not been extended to the rest of Italy because the conditions for taking serious measures do not exist.’
It will create a strange dynamic for Sunday’s title game between Juventus and Inter Milan in Turin, with an empty stadium set to host the battle game.
