European football, currently at a standstill because of the coronavirus, is focusing on a restart in July and August with clubs and leagues being told that stopping competitions should "really be the last resort."
The president of bottom-of-the-table Brescia has said that it makes no sense to try to complete the Serie A season and that he would rather forfeit matches than put his team on the pitch.
A national lockdown has been in place in Italy since March 9 and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said on Wednesday that the restrictions would remain in place until at least April 13. He added the government would start softening the measures only with the approval of its scientific advisors, without setting an exact date.
When North American sports leagues return to action after the coronavirus crisis, questions are sure to linger over whether the fans will be willing, or have the resources, to pack stadiums as they once did, sports analysts have said.
Italy's sports minister said he will propose extending the ban on all competitions to the whole of April in an effort to contain the coronavirus. The death toll from the coronavirus rose past 10,000 in Italy on Saturday, a figure that made an extension of a national lockdown almost certain.
"Re-starting matches ... is unrealistic. Tomorrow I will propose to extend the ban on all sports competitions, of all levels and types, to the whole of April," Vincenzo Spadafora told daily La Repubblica in an interview.
Football clubs in Europe are among the wealthiest organizations in the world. They toss around nine-figure transfer fees like it’s nothing while charging exorbitant prices for entry into their stadiums.
And yet, these same clubs who regularly lead the list of richest sports teams in the world have been among the first to claim they don’t have money to pay their players as soccer has screeched to a halt amid the coronavirus pandemic.
As football around the world shut down amid the coronavirus pandemic, defiant Belarus kicked off its new season on Thursday and said it would even allow spectators to watch the games.
Borussia Moenchengladbach's players and coaching staff became the first in Germany to accept pay cuts during the coronavirus crisis to support the club as revenues dry up due to halted matches, sports director Max Eberl said on Thursday.
The Bundesliga suspension is due to last until at least April 2 though few believe it will resume soon after that date. All continental competitions have also been suspended with the virus's current epicenter in Europe. Germany has recorded about 11,000 cases with 20 deaths.
French federation president Noel Le Graet urged the presidents of Lyon and Marseille to stop bickering about whether the Ligue 1 season should be declared null and void amid the coronavirus outbreak. The season has been postponed indefinitely as French authorities try to contain the spread of the coronavirus, which on Saturday had infected 4,499 and killed 91 people in the country.
"I ask them to regain their composure... and to show dignity," Le Graet told French TV channel TF1 on Sunday.
The anticipation and excitement surrounding Tim Howard’s return to soccer was met with a four-goal bashing in Memphis on Saturday night.
Earlier in the week, Memphis 901 FC announced that Howard was coming out of retirement and the club’s part-owner would be starting in goal for the team’s home opener. It turned out to be a return to forget as visiting Indy Eleven scorched Memphis, netting four goals past the former USMNT great.
As Major League Soccer launched a milestone 25th season on Saturday, the mood was not one of reflection and cautious optimism but bold even outrageous predictions of a future empire.
Not content to eventually become one of the most successful leagues in North America, MLS has set its sights on supplanting the UK's Premier League and Spain's LaLiga as the world's top soccer product by the time it celebrates its 50th anniversary.