The Italian government has ordered a lockdown due to the rapid spread of the Coronavirus in the country, which forced the suspension of Serie A football games. However, training will continue for Juventus for the club's Champions League tie but without superstar forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo is waiting out the COVID-19 in his hometown Madeira and has already skipped training. It's unclear if he plans to plane in, although reports said he had been given the clearance to return by the Italian authorities and attend the Old Lady's training schedules.
According to Fox Sports, Ronaldo went home not only to escape the Coronavirus outbreak but also to see his mother who recently suffered a stroke.
In a statement, the Italian giants confirmed that the club superstar was not around during the team's last training day and blamed the ongoing health emergency that has hit Italy for the situation.
"Cristiano Ronaldo did not train [on Wednesday] and remains in Madeira pending developments related to the current health emergency.," the Turin club explained.
Goal said it was deliberate on Ronaldo's part to stay in Portugal to minimize the risk of getting infected by COVID-19 that has already hit more than 12,400 people in Italy. The country has already reported over 800 deaths, and the casualty count continues to pile up.
And to effectively halt the spread of the virus, the Italian government has ordered a lockdown of all Italy, and measures are now in place to restrict the going ins and going outs of people. As public gathering and non-essential movements have been prohibited, sports events live football games were suspended indefinitely.
For Juventus defender Daniele Rugani though, the lockdown order came a bit late. The Sun reported that the former Arsenal center-back tested positive for Coronavirus, indicating that the player came into contact with a Serie C club believed to have been exposed to the virus.
Rugani himself confirmed that he had gotten the deadly bug, added the report.
"Yes, I have the coronavirus, but don't worry, now I'm fine. I urge you to respect the rules because this virus makes no distinctions. Let's do it for ourselves, for our loved ones and for those around us," Rugani was reported as saying.
A statement from the likewise confirmed the case, saying, "the footballer Daniele Rugani has tested positive for Coronavirus-COVID-19 and is currently asymptomatic."
Goal said the situation in Italy is seen to be spreading in other European leagues at an alarming pace. Either games have been played without the fans, or some schedules have been suspended. In light of the Rugani case, though, it is not remote that the season for European football could be suspended if only to contain the spread of COVID-19.
