By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
A tough situation for the Italian teams gets even more difficult as LBA Serie A president Umberto Gandini presents the protocols for resuming action and the upcoming 2020-21 season. The 2019-20 season ended prematurely due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Gandini presented the plan for the start of the next season to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Eurosport Italy relays. For at least the first part of the 2020-21 campaign, games will be played behind closed doors with a limit of 125 people, including players, coaches, doctors, referees, and journalists, in each match.
Also, players and coaches will be tested every four days. Projections point towards additional costs of 10,000 euros per month for each Serie A team, about 100,000 euros for the whole season.
The protocols create more financial issues for the clubs already in rough shape since the early conclusion of the previous season. No fans and the cost of tests can prove unbearable for some sides.
As noted by Gandini, the guidelines are similar to those implemented to restart the football (soccer) action in Italy. It can also be assumed that protocols for other basketball leagues will not be significantly different.
Still, LBA hopes for state financial aid to ease the economic load for teams participating in the Italian league and at some point, a limited number of fans permitted to attend the matches.
The Italian league previously approving the 18-team format scheduled the Super Cup for late August and the start of the 2020-21 season one month later.