Italian Div. 1 season still scheduled to start amid coronovirus fears – for now

| American Football | 02/27/2020

Three of the games in the Italian third division schedule were postponed this past weekend as fears of the spread of the coronavirus have rippled through Italy.

According to one Italian Federation of American Football official, this weekend’s Div. 2 games will also be postponed but as of right now the Div. 1 season will start as scheduled on the weekend of March 7. The third division, or CIF9, schedule will see three games postponed this weekend.

That is, of course, a day to day decision, however, which is understandable.

Some of the games will likely be held in empty stadiums, but only in Milan and Turin according to the same official.

However, one Div. 1 coach relates that he cannot even organize a team practice as all the fields in Milan have been closed. He has been meeting with his team online.

According to the BBC, the number of coronavirus cases in Italy has jumped to 400, amid international efforts to contain the spread of the deadly outbreak.

The rise in Italy, the main focus of infection in Europe, represents a 25% surge in 24 hours.

Several European countries announced new cases traced to Italy.

 

Roger Kelly is an editor and a writer for AFI. A former PR Director the B.C. Lions of the Canadian Football League for 7 years, he now lives in Sweden writing about and scouting American Football throughout the world.