BEVERLY HILLS, March 18, (THEWILL) – Serie A leaders Inter Milan have been asked to temporarily close their doors by health authorities in Milan after more players tested positive for the coronavirus. Earlier, goalkeeper Samir Handanovic and defender Danilo D’Ambrosio were recently diagnosed with the virus.
This sparked fears that they may be on the cusp of an outbreak at the club especially after the Italian media began to speculate that Saturday’s meeting with Sampdoria could be under threat with more positive cases.
Unfortunately, the fears have been confirmed.
The club revealed, through their official website, that defender Stefan de Vrij and midfielder Matias Vecino had both contracted COVID-19. The infection rates of the spread have moved Italian health authorities to ordered them to shutter down training and close down.
ATS Milan, the public Health Department in Milan, ruled for the postponement of the fixture against Sampdoria, while training sessions have also been cancelled, and no Inter players will be allowed to leave the club to join up with their national teams during the upcoming international break to contain further spread.
For the time being, therefore, until Sunday, March 21, Inter have suspended all first-team activities. Players and staff will all be asked to test afresh for COVID-19, and only if the number of positive cases has dropped, will the team will be allowed to return to training and their facilities be allowed to reopen.
Interestingly, this decision came straight from Milan’s health department, rather than Serie A officials handling testing. The usual rule is matches will only be postponed if a team has either ten positive cases or fewer than 13 players available, but obviously, there needs to be some middle ground, as in this case.
Inter will take consolation that this is coming so close to the international break, allowing them time to recover well enough before club football resumes with the additional benefit of not having any of their players risk travel restrictions of injuries in the time before they resume their challenge for a first Scudetto in a little over a decade.
Antonio Conte’s side do not play again until their trip to Bologna on April 3, so theoretically, they could have all the infected players back if they can all recover in time for that tie. Yet, in terms of their momentum, it is potentially a crusher as it eats into their built-up six-game winning streak which has seen them move nine points clear at the top of the Serie A standings, as all that excitement has come to an abrupt halt.
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