JAKARTA - A number of Serie A football matches in the northern Italian region of Lombardy and Veneto will not be played on Sunday 23 February. This is because of the impact of the corona virus or COVID-19.

The Italian government confirmed this in a statement. The three games affected were the one between Inter Milan and Sampdoria, Atalanta against Sassuolo and Hellas Verona against Cagliari. There is no information on when the match will be rescheduled.

The Serie B match featuring Ascoli against Cremonese was already canceled on Saturday about an hour before the scheduled kick off due to coronavirus fears.

The Serie C level three match between Piacenza and Sambenedettese was also postponed, as well as a number of youth team matches and amateur matches in the Lombardy region.

Italy is dealing with the worst coronavirus outbreak ever recorded in Europe, with two people dying in the north since Friday and nearly 60 people infected.

In an effort to prevent the spread of the disease, the government has banned public events in the worst-affected areas and closed schools and universities.

Sunday's postponement might be good news for Inter Milan. Coach Antonio Conte told reporters on Saturday that it was difficult to prepare for Sunday's game as it will take place only 72 hours after their last match in Bulgaria in the Europa League.

Inter are third in the league standings behind Lazio and leaders Juventus.


The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)