Since March 9, the 2019-20 Serie A season has been suspended and there is no confirmation as of whether it will be completed. The global COVID-19 pandemics forced virtually all of European football to come to a halt.
The likes of the Belgian First Division and the Dutch Eredivisie have gone to cancel their seasons, with the Ligue 1 in France recently joining in.
While other leagues have been canceled, the Serie A is still pressing ahead with plans to finish the current season. As is the same scenario with the Premier League and La Liga.
The debate remains as to whether or not football should actually continue this season. Many figures, including Italy’s Minister for Sports, Vincenzo Spadafora, think it might be better to end the season. Another section wants the Serie A to carry on and push to continue the season.
Football has grown to be more than a sport and can be described now as a tradition if you like. This time of the year marks that period where the season is usually in its climax and a lot of competitions start looking clearer with regards to the winner and related saga.
With lots of unfinished business still left in the Serie A, this article takes a look at five reasons why the current season should be completed.
1) We had an interesting title race on our hands
Imagine playing one game to decide the title ??
— Goal News (@GoalNews) April 27, 2020
If there was any chance Juventus’ eight-year dominance of the Serie A title could come to an end, this season showed a lot of promise. After 26 games, the Bianconeri could only boast a one-point lead over second-placed Lazio. Not to mention Inter in third place, who were with a game in hand when the season was halted.
Usually, at this time of the season, it’s usually a matter of when Juve will be “confirmed” as champions. The same can’t be said right now. Lazio don’t look like they are giving up anytime soon and boast the most in-form player in the league in Ciro Immobile. Inter still have the required firepower to be in the title mix and literally one slip-up could see anybody win the league.
It’ll be sad to see that the one time the Serie A showed a competitive nature at the top, happens to be the same time the season is left uncompleted. For the sake of fans, ever-dying to see a change and for Lazio who had a big shout at the title, it would be nice to play it all out to the end and see what becomes of it all.
Lazio already beat Juventus this season and if any club could stop the reigning champions, the Biancocelesti have shown that they are well equipped to do so.
2) The Serie A will lose lots of money (clubs too)
As per reports, the Italian top-flight could lose as much as €350-450M if the current season is not completed. When compared to other leagues, the figure might seem “modest” but that pretty much sums it up.
The Serie A is not as financially sustainable as the likes of the Premier League and La Liga and this is one reason why a resumption should be considered. Asides the likes of Juventus, Inter, and possibly Napoli, how many Serie A clubs will be able to survive without cash inflow for a number of months?
Not to forget that many clubs have already had to ask players to take pay-cuts to help salvage the situation. A huge number of thousands globally have already lost their jobs due to the pandemic and voiding the season doesn’t help in that regard too.
Fiorentina recently had to put 50 of their staff on furlough and the situation could get worse among Serie A clubs if the season is canceled.
If the plan is to look towards starting the next season instead, isn’t that solution also at risk if clubs are not in the right shape (financially) to do so as well?
3) Serie A restart will lift the hopes in the country
Europe has seen a number of casualties over the past few weeks, with respect to lives and economic consequences as well. Sadly, Italy happens to be one of the most affected European countries so far.
With the nation being on lock-down for over a month, moods have dampened and depression has set in for some. The country is already looking at easing lock-down measures and there are already plans for Serie A clubs to possibly resume individual training by May 4.
In what has been a difficult past month, resuming the Serie A could help lift the spirits and bring a positive vibe where there’s been lots of negativity.
Staying safe and healthy remains the priority in this period but part of that also hinges on the mental side of it. The resumption of the league could help bridge that gap and give fans something enjoyable to look forward to, week in and week out.
The words of Paulo Fonseca clearly sums up this point.
Paulo Fonseca believes it's time for @SerieA to return ?? pic.twitter.com/NZBHhwpvh3
— AS Roma English (@ASRomaEN) April 29, 2020
4) Why not prevent an upset in the balance of the football season?
As it stands, there are hopes Serie A fixtures could resume between May 27 and June 2 – with the season finishing in early August. Meaning, if games don’t resume by then we might see some changes in the calendar. If the season can still resume, there could still be time to salvage it based on a new schedule.
If the season is completed by early August, we can still salvage the football calendar a great deal. Maybe start next season a bit later and make up for it by scrapping some “needless” international breaks.
The European Championship and the Olympics are already postponed to 2021, the fate of the Champions League and Europa League for this season remains to be seen. In a nutshell, postponing all actions further would only pile up the schedule and leaves us with a bigger problem to solve.
5) It puts Serie A sides at disadvantage in the transfer window
We already mentioned the financial impact of canceling the season on Serie A sides. There could be an additional implication of that in the transfer window.
If clubs get financially weakened even further, some sides (especially the smaller clubs) would be prone to raiding from virtually any other league.
Brescia cannot afford to keep Sandro Tonali, they may have previously wanted €60m but now they would be forced to sell him for something like €30m. [Fabrizio Romano] pic.twitter.com/4T262y4CPA
— Juventus News – Juvefc.com (@juvefcdotcom) April 28, 2020
Some sides might be forced to lose players for way less than their actual value (just to stay afloat). Expect teams from all over and the Serie A itself to knock hard on Brescia’s door for Sandro Tonali. Elsewhere, Barcelona still remain firm in their pursuit of Lautaro Martinez. While Inter might still be able to command a heavy fee, should they choose to sell, it’s not the same for a lot of other sides.
In an earlier article, we already covered how the lack of football could affect the upcoming Serie A market and this only expatiates that further.
Things have started looking positive in Italy of late and there are hopes life could be returning to normal gradually. As it stands, all directions point to the 2019-20 Serie A season returning to action and there are some good reasons to actually do so.
I see your points. But, to be fair a lot of Serie A clubs are already disadvantaged in the transfer window.