Italian sports minister says it's too early to restart Serie A

Football fans are waiting to see Cristiano Ronaldo back in action. However, it seems there are still clouds of uncertainty hovering over the future of Serie A's currently halted season.

Italy's sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora said that it's too early to even consider talking about the prospect of restarting the season.

Both the Italian football federation (FIGC) and Serie A want to complete the 2019-20 season, although the government said that it has not yet decided on the tournament's fate.

Spadafora said, "I read strange things around but nothing has changed. In terms of the resumption of the championship - for now, we don't talk about it."

Meanwhile, BBC reports that Serie A clubs have been permitted to restart their players' individual training sessions from Monday. However, as of now, team training sessions are not allowed until at least May 18.

On March 9, the Italian top-flight league was suspended indefinitely amidst the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Juventus forward Paulo Dybala was among the first players in Serie A to have tested positive for the virus. According to recent reports, although he is feeling better, the 26-year-old Argentine has tested positive for the fourth time in six weeks.

As soon as matches were suspended back in March, Dybala's Juve teammate Cristiano Ronaldo took a flight back to his hometown of Funchal in Madeira, Portugal. It is expected that CR7 would return to Turin soon to join his club's training sessions.

It is understood that overseas players would be required to spend at least 14 days in quarantine from the moment they return to Italy. However, with the Italian government not yet ready to allow Serie A to return to action, the future of the current season is still unclear.

Meanwhile, France's Ligue 1 has been abandoned with Paris St-Germain being awarded the title. If Serie A is also abandoned, it is not as clear-cut if they might consider awarding the title to Juventus. The Turin-based club is leading Lazio by only one point on top of the table after both clubs have played 26 games each.

One of the main reasons why the Italian government is reluctant to restart the country's sporting activities is because of its grave coronavirus numbers. Italy happens to be one of the worst-hit countries in the world, with over 210,000 coronavirus cases and nearly 29,000 deaths.