Nearly seven weeks after the last game was played, Italy's top football division finally has a target date to resume practice.

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Nearly seven weeks after the last game was played, Italy's top football division
finally has a target date to resume practice.
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Premier Giuseppe Conte announced Sunday that professional sports teams can
resume training on May 18, while individual sports can resume practice on May
4.
CORONAVIRUSCRISISINFOOTBALL
•Euro2020:Postponeduntil2021
•ChampionsLeague:Suspendedindefinitely
•PremierLeague:Suspendedindefinitely
•LaLiga:Suspendedindefinitely
•Bundesliga:Likelynofansforrestof2020
•Ligue1:Suspendedindefinitely
•SerieA:TeamtrainingcanresumeMay18
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3. •CopaAmerica:Postponeduntil2021
•MLS:SuspendedthroughJune8
The move means that the Serie A league could resume playing games in June --
albeit without any fans in the stadiums.
Conte said that starting on Monday, Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora "will
work intensely with the football system, the professional sports in general, to
find a road map that we have already partly defined in terms of the resumption
of individual training on May 4 and teams on May 18.
"Then we'll evaluate if the conditions will allow the leagues that were suspended
to be completed,'' Conte added.
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Serie A has been suspended since March 9, when the government ordered a
nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus emergency. Italy had the bad luck
of being the first Western nation to be slammed by the outbreak, and its official
total of 26,600 fatalities lags behind only the U.S. in the global death toll.
"Being a big football fan like so many Italians, at the start it seemed strange to
me that the season could be interrupted and suspended,'' Conte said. "But
obviously we found ourselves involved in this health, social and economic
emergency. And I think everyone, even the most ardent fans, understood that
there wasn't any alternative.''
Twelve rounds remain in Serie A, plus four other games that were postponed
from the 25th round. Also, the Italian Cup was suspended after the first leg of
the semifinals. Eight-time defending champion Juventus leads Lazio by one
point in the Serie A standings.

4. At least 15 Serie A players have tested positive for COVID-19. Most of the
infected players have recovered, although Atalanta's reserve goalkeeper Marco
Sportiello was still positive as of Wednesday, according to the ANSA news
agency.
Before Conte's nationally televised speech and news conference, health ministry
figures indicated that Italy had seen its lowest day-to-day increase in deaths --
260 -- since mid-March, during the first week of lockdown.
Conte said that all sports would resume with the maximum precautions.
"We're big fans of sports and we want well for all of our idols,'' he said. "We
certainly don't want them to get sick."
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5. Former Chelsea forward Diego Costa told ESPN Brasil that he thinks Antonio
Conte could never last a full season at a club like Real Madrid.
Costa left Chelsea at the end of the 2016-17 season following a row with Conte
and returned to Atletico Madrid -- the club he had left to join Chelsea in 2014.
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Conte followed Costa out of Stamford Bridge 12 months later and took a year
out of football, during which time he was heavily linked with the Real Madrid
job, before he was named Inter Milan boss in May.
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"We [Conte and I] had problems off the pitch, but I think he is a really good
manager," Costa said. "I have no hard feelings towards Conte.
"But to be a top, top manager, he needs to change the human side of his
management. He is very suspicious. At a like, say, Real Madrid, he would never
last a season."
In 2013, Costa declared he would represent Spain at international level despite
having been born in Brazil and making two appearances for the South
Americans.
The 31-year-old was widely criticised in the country of his birth for his decision
to play for Spain, but said he opted for switch due to being overlooked by then
Brazil manager Luiz Felipe Scolari.
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6. "After the friendly against Russia, he said he would call me up again because I
hadn't played many minutes," he added. "I think it was just to get in my head.
"I remember several forwards were injured but Scolari would not select me. I
stayed quiet, but wasn't selected for the Confederations Cup. The possibility of
Spain emerged and I accepted.
"How could I say no? Suddenly, they started saying Scolari wanted me. Well, he
never called me once. How could it be that he wanted me? I then saw it written
that I had ruined the dreams of millions of Brazilians.
"Why not say that he didn't look for me? Then it's simple."
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