New Serie A season to start on September 1; Italian Football Federation to employ play-offs if season is halted once again
Wednesday 20 May 2020 18:24, UK
The current Serie A campaign will be completed by August 20 to allow a new season to start on September 1, Italian football chiefs agreed at a meeting on Wednesday.
Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina, Lega Serie A president Paolo Dal Pino and major Serie A representatives convened a Federal Council meeting on Wednesday to debate over a revised timetable to be adopted by football clubs.
The Council agreed that the current Serie A, Serie B and Serie C seasons will be allowed to be completed but not later than August 20, to give space for the Coppa Italia tournament to be completed by the end of August.
It will mean the 2020/21 season will get underway on September 1, with August 31 being pinpointed as the deadline day for football transfers across the country.
Should the Serie A season be halted again, the Federation will seek a new format to determine the final standings, including short play-off rounds to establish league champions, European places and relegation.
"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 FIGC statement read on Wednesday.
"Ahead of the restart of 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."
The Federation has also decided to curtail the amateur season in Italy, with all leagues below third-tier Serie C being drawn to a close, and a decision on the sporting outcomes of those leagues will be debated at a further meeting later in May.
Italian sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora has called a crunch meeting for May 28 in which government and league chiefs will decide whether Serie A will be allowed to restart or not.
"May 28 is the day when we will know if the league will resume," he told Italian state broadcaster Rai on Tuesday,
Serie A teams are set to restart group training sessions after having been given the green light from the Italian government and the league is still targeting a restart on June 13, pending approval from Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.
