Serie A Prepared to Bar Players From Euro 2020 to Extend Domestic Season

​Football has never been more up in the air than it is at the moment, and no country has been affected more by the deadly Coronavirus than Italy. 

The Serie A title race took another twist on Sunday March 8, when Juventus regained top spot after a 2-0 victory over bitter rivals Inter. But the game was played behind closed doors, and the final whistle brought an end to all top-flight action for the immediate future. 

The football calendar has been provisionally suspended until April 3, but with the entire country on lockdown, that hypothesis appears to be highly unlikely. Instead, La Repubblica (via​Gazzetta) report that a new plan has been discussed, which would see the fixture list recommence on May 2 - but still behind closed doors.

This new schedule aims to see the season completed by June 30 (hopefully with an audience in the stadium), which obviously factors in the possible postponement of the upcoming Euro 2020 competition. But how can Serie A be so sure that the tournament will not go ahead? 

Well, the Federation and European league officials will meet on Tuesday to discuss their options, and to convince UEFA leader Aleksander Čeferin to postpone the Euros, they are prepared to refuse permission for their stars to join up with their national teams. 

Strong stuff. 

The new plan allows players to return to training after Easter, giving them roughly two weeks to get back in shape ahead of the first weekend in May. 

But what happens if the Coronavirus continues to spread? Well, simply put, the season may be cancelled. If the league is unable to fulfil its remaining fixtures, then there are a number of possibilities for how to crown the rightful winners. 

The theory of a playoff to decide the title has been banded around, but it's not a popular idea among the majority of the sides. If players are unable to take to the field at all, then Serie A may be forced into having a 22-team league next season, with two sides gaining promotion from Serie B. 

This plan is the least favourite among nearly every top-flight team, who are afraid that the competition will lose its competitiveness should the league be expanded.