Serie A also has the first case of Coronavirus. It's about Daniele Rugani, Juventus defender, a positive result for the swab after the checks prepared by the Juventus club. The 25-year-old, reads the official website of the Old Lady, “is a result positive for Coronavirus-COVID-19 and is currently asymptomatic. Juventus Football Club is currently activating all the isolation procedures required by law, including the census of those who have had contact with him".
This is the first case of a Serie A league, testifying that football could not (and, even more so, cannot) continue its journey as if nothing had happened. Unfortunately, the feeling that it was only a matter of time had been in the air for several days, but now it has happened and the world of football will have to act accordingly. It being understood that the priority, just like for any other patient, is his health (the fact that he is asymptomatic, obviously, is good news), it is appropriate to think about everything that the news entails.
For a start, the whole Juventus (therefore the players, but also those who revolve around them, from managers to staff members) ends up in quarantine, including Cristiano Ronaldo, flew to Portugal Monday to assist his sick mother and now "forced" to stay there for 14 days: the Champions League match against Lyon, scheduled for next Tuesday, can therefore be considered already postponed.
Not only that, because the positivity of a footballer affects not only the members of his club, but also the opponents who have met him. “FC Internazionale Milano announces that, following the press release from Juventus FC regarding the positivity of the player Daniele Rugani to COVID-19, all competitive activity is suspended until further notice. – The club is taking steps to prepare all the necessary procedures”.
Also for Inter, last to have played against Juve, therefore the quarantine begins, with the logical consequence of not being able to play in the Europa League next week either. Today's match, moreover, had already been canceled after Getafe had announced its refusal to come to Milan: UEFA, just like for Seville-Rome (postponed instead due to the air blockade between Spain and Italy), was thinking of a match dry on neutral ground, a sort of desperate remedy to complete the round of XNUMX and at least guarantee the draw.
But against the Virus there are no economic interests that hold, even if in the shape of a balloon: the UEFA, thanks to some still "distracted" governments (just think of what we saw in Leipzig and Liverpool, with the stadiums regularly open and full of cheering fans), has so far tried to go ahead, regardless of the signals coming from Italy and beyond . Serie A he had already decided to stop before the Rugani case, but now they could join Liga spagnola (footballers' union and federation met yesterday and will communicate the decision shortly), French Ligue 1 (already closed until April 15th) and Bundesliga, even more so after the positivity of Timo Huber, defender of Hannover (German Serie B).
The situation is less heavy England but even there, after the carelessness of the past few days, the first postponed match is recorded: it is the big match between Manchester City and Arsenal, which was supposed to be played yesterday and which instead is postponed to a later date after the positivity of Evangelos Marinakis, president of the 'Olympiakos, opponent of the Gunners in the last round of the Europa League.
Still football too in Argentina, where the Casa Rosada has opted for a precautionary stop until the end of March and, more generally, in South America, with the postponements of some races valid for qualification for the next world championships. At risk, of course, there is also the America's Cup scheduled from June 12 in Argentina and Colombia, but it is above all the European to be under discussion, especially this in itinerant version. "No one has asked us for the postponement" a UEFA executive announced anonymously, but to date, frankly, it seems really difficult that he can play. Because since yesterday at 23pm, time of the Juventus press release on Daniele Rugani, even international football can no longer turn a blind eye.
