By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Italian Federation president Gianni Petrucci thinks that the 2020-2021 season in the country’s basketball leagues should start as early as September or October.
“I’m waiting for the Serie A and A2 leagues to make their proposals on how to restart. There’s a federal council on Thursday and I will deepen into the discussion. I say we can’t wait for November or December. We have to go around September, October, but that’s my idea,” Petrucci said per Bologna Basket.
The 2019-2020 basketball season in Italy was shut down for good on April 12 due to the uncertainty around the resumption of sports activities amid the coronavirus crisis. Italy has been one of the hardest-hit countries by the pandemic.
Now the plans are laid for how 2020-2021 will begin. According to Petrucci, the competition demands an early start.
“In the beginning, we were told that football, basketball, and I assume volleyball, should start again behind closed doors. For us who don’t have the big television rights of football, but we have a few million, it’s a big handicap. But we must also think about the competition. If these popular sports didn’t start again, I don’t say it would be “your death, my life” but there is competition from other equally important sports.”
Photo: Olimpia Milano