After weeks of wrangling, with several U-turns on the way, Italy is due to decide on Thursday if and when its top-flight Serie A soccer league can resume after the coronavirus stoppage.
Possibly encouraged by seeing how Germany's Bundesliga has restarted without problems so far, the Italian government appears to have relaxed its position recently.
Another European league looks set to restart play soon after the pandemic-enforced shutdown.
According to a report in the Ukrainian press, the country's Premier League has been given the green light to resume play this coming weekend. The Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) and the country's Ministry of Health decided after a meeting that the competition will be allowed to go ahead.
Premier League clubs will return to training on Tuesday after agreeing to allow "small group" sessions to begin, with a possible return to normal 'contact' training next week.
The league held a conference call for all 20 clubs on Monday where the move was given unanimous backing but there remains no firm date for the season to resume. Another meeting is scheduled for early next week when the league will decide on whether to move to the second phase which allows for training involving contact.
A quick guide to who's who in the Bundesliga as the season is set to resume this weekend (in order of league standings).
#1. BAYERN MUNICH
Manager: Hans-Dieter Flick
Player to watch: Robert Lewandowski
There’s not a lot of information to go off apart from this Netflix tweet that features Julie Foudy, Mia Hamm, Michelle Akers, Joy Fawcett, Kristine Lilly, Briana Scurry, Carla Overbeck and Brandi Chastain, but a film that covers the USWNT’s journey to the 1999 Women’s World Cup is coming to Netflix.
On Friday, May 8, the K League returns for the 38th season of top-division football in South Korea. Who among us can forget how the 2019 competition ended, with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors capturing the title while Australia international Adam Taggart finished top scorer with 20 goals? What, you don’t remember that?
That’s all poised to change this year with Pohang Steelers, Sangju Sangmu, Costa Rica’s Marco Ureña and Canada’s Doneil Henry ready to storm your TV sets with a bit of live sport on ESPN (at some admittedly ungodly hours).
Beginning Friday, March 20, at 3:00 p.m. ET, you’ll be able to watch the premiere of FIFA’s 2018 World Cup Official Film on YouTube. Since 1954, FIFA has sanctioned an official documentary film for each World Cup, and although the 2018 edition has been available on Amazon Prime Video for some time, Friday will mark its free launch on YouTube.
The documentary features incredible footage of the event which only FIFA can provide, and it takes an in-depth look at tournament stars like Paul Pogba, Luka Modric and Cristiano Ronaldo while the narration is provided by Damian Lewis.
At the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the USWNT traveled to France with a squad of 23 players. For the upcoming SheBelieves Cup, Vlatko Andonovski has again named a 23-player roster. At the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, that squad will be capped at 18; heads will roll.
We got a little taste of Andonovski’s thinking at the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying Championship when the roster was limited to 20, but it was difficult to really assess players as the U.S. reeled off five straight wins by a combined score of 25-0.
In terms of historical dramas, Downton Abbey is one of the most critically acclaimed English-language TV shows of all time. The multiple award-winning series was created by Julian Fellowes, and his latest project — The English Game — is set to be released through Netflix on Friday, March 20 (the same day as the Ultras movie).
The MLS debut of LA Galaxy's new Mexican goal machine Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez and the long-awaited arrival of the David Beckham-owned Inter Miami expansion team highlight the start of the league's 25th anniversary season this weekend.
The campaign, which kicks off with all 26 clubs in action, will also see defending champions Seattle Sounders seeking a third title in five seasons and Los Angeles FC eager to build on a record-breaking 2019 regular season.