Ronaldo returns to Italy, starts 14-day quarantine before training comeback

On Monday, Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo returned to Italy after spending nearly two months in his native town of Funchal in Madeira, Portugal.

Ronaldo has been placed in a 14-day quarantine after he landed in Turin.

The Portuguese attacker returned to his hometown about two months ago when the novel coronavirus had started to spread in Italy. The pandemic eventually forced the country and many other parts of the world into lockdown.

It was previously expected for the former Real Madrid and Manchester United striker to return on May 18, when clubs were originally scheduled to return to training.

However, the Italian government made some changes by moving the date forward to May 4, after many regions in the country permitted the training centres to reopen. Consequently, Juventus recently recalled its overseas players who had left Italy back in March when the COVID-19 situation worsened.

It has been understood that the players who are coming back from their native countries would undergo a mandatory two-week quarantine period before reuniting with their teammates.

Just when Ronaldo and his family were on their way to Turin, many of Juve's players were being tested for COVID-19 at the club's training centre. The players who were examined include Aaron Ramsey, Carlo Pinsoglio, Federico Bernardeschi, Juan Cuadrado, and Merih Demiral.

Individual training is set to resume on Tuesday. However, the players and training staff must abide by the social distancing norms.

All 20 clubs in the Serie A have voted in the favour of restarting the season whenever it is considered safe. However, it is still unknown whether and when football could be played again.

Italy's sports minister, Vincenzo Spadafora, recently said that it is too early to predict when football can return. Goal reports that there are fears that the government could ban all sporting events in Italy for several more months.

If that happens, according to Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina, it "would be the death of Italian football."

Gravina said, "I heard that the order could come from the Minister of Sport this week. But that would not be within his remit. FIFA, UEFA, and FIGC have explained that the leagues must be finished within the calendar year. If we don't start the league again in June, we will do it when it's possible."

Italy has recorded one of the worst numbers in the world with nearly 212,000 coronavirus positive cases and over 29,000 deaths. Although the worst is believed to be over, the crisis is far from over.