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Brescia president wants Serie A season scrapped: 'This is the plague'

Emilio Andreoli / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Brescia president Massimo Cellino wants Serie A to cancel its season while Italy's death toll continues to climb due to the coronavirus.

The country's first division is currently postponed until April 3, but stories recently surfaced that Cagliari, Napoli, and Lazio were planning to return to training this week. The latter club is apparently angered by the league's suspension when it occupies second place, one point behind leaders Juventus.

"If Lazio want the Scudetto, let them have it," Cellino told Corriere dello Sport's Ivan Zazzaroni on Monday, as translated by ESPN. "This is the plague."

He continued: "Don't be daft, how can we resume the season? I am thinking of next term and only that. The Coppa Italia, the Scudetto ... if (Lazio president) Claudio Lotito wants it, he can have it.

"He's convinced that his team is unbeatable, so let him keep that belief. How can we be sitting here talking about the Serie A title when we have a plague on our doorstep? I couldn't care less about football right now."

Italian players' union chief Damiano Tommasi felt compelled on Friday to warn clubs of the risks of stepping up preparations for Serie A's return. "I don't know what they have in their minds," Tomassi wrote on the AIC website, as reported by Reuters. "Training now, two months before the championship resumes, doesn't make sense. It's also dangerous."

The latest figures from Italy disclose 59,138 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Italy's 5,476 deaths due to the infection is the highest number of any country in the world.

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