Rome [Italy]: The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has said that the current season of the Serie A will be finished by August 20 as the body has set September 1 for the commencement of 2020-2021 season.
A Federal Council meeting between Italian Football Federation (FIGC) chief Gabriele Gravina, Lega Serie A President Paolo Dal Pino and major stakeholders from Serie A, Serie B and Serie C took place on Wednesday.
"The Italian Football Federation has expressed its willingness to restart and complete its national professional competitions, marking August 20 as the deadline for Serie A, B, and C to close their competitions," a website quoted FIGC's statement.
"Ahead of the restart of the sporting activity, it will be the Federal Council's competence to determine the criteria whereby competitions will be finalised. Finally, as a result of what has been sanctioned, the 2020-21 sporting season will start on September 1," it added.
Serie A has been put on hold since March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier, Serie A teams were given the green light to resume group training.
Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora told Italian television that government scientists had accepted the Italian football federation's (FIGC) revised health protocol.
"The Scientific Technical Committee have approved the FIGC protocol for the resumption of team training," Spadafora told the media organisation.
"It is excellent news, collective training can now resume."
Spadafora said he has scheduled a meeting on May 28 with FIGC president Gabriele Gravina and Lega Serie A chief Paolo Dal Pino to decide on the return to competition.
"We will then decide if and when Serie A will restart," he said.
"The important thing will be to restart with the firm intention of completing the championship, then the federations will decide the modalities and formats to be adopted."
The minister said that a controversial measure of isolating team members for two weeks at club facilities to limit the risk of contagion has been withdrawn.
If a player tests positive he will be quarantined for two weeks, while the team will be placed in isolation, and monitored, but can continue to train together.
