TURIN — Five-times World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo rejoined Serie A champions Juventus for training on Tuesday after an absence of 72 days that included the last two weeks in quarantine.
The 35-year-old was filmed arriving at the Turin club's Continassa training ground in a black car and was due to undergo a medical before joining coach Maurizio Sarri and his teammates.
Italy's Serie A clubs voted in a favor of restarting the season on June 13 during a general assembly on Wednesday, if the government allows.
The Italian top flight has been suspended since March 9 because of the COVID-19 pandemic and, although the government has authorized teams to hold collective training sessions from next Monday, it has not yet decided if and when the championship can resume.
Professional soccer leagues around Europe are gearing up for a return to action following the novel coronavirus stoppage, but some are more advanced than others. Here is a roundup of the state of play.
GERMANY
The companies holding the broadcasting rights to Italy's top-flight Serie A soccer championship, including Comcast's unit SKY, have not paid the last installment of the 2019-20 season, which has been halted due to the coronavirus outbreak, three sources familiar with the matter said.
Sebastian Giovinco was the best thing to ever happen to Toronto FC. After eight years of fruitless existence in MLS, the Italian’s arrival heralded the beginning of a golden era for the club, culminating in a 2017 MLS Cup and Supporters’ Shield double and a heartbreaking shootout defeat to Chivas in the CONCACAF Champions League final.
FIFA has proposed that teams should be allowed to make up to five substitutions per match, instead of the usual three, as a temporary measure to help cope with potential fixture congestion in the aftermath of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Football has been at a standstill since mid-March but many leagues and federations are still hoping to complete the season but to do so they would have to cram fixtures into a shorter period than usual once play re-starts.
Fiorentina owner Rocco Commisso has said the club will not try to stop talisman Federico Chiesa should he decide to join Juventus.
"Chiesa must decide and, if he wants to leave, I won't stand in his way, as long as the amount is right ... If he wants to go to Juve, there are no vetoes for certain clubs," Commisso claimed.
The football community continues to prove that I was utterly useless at a young age and that children are capable of amazing feats. First, young children were mailing letters to big clubs and getting responses.
AS Roma legend Francesco Totti made headlines this week when he discussed his acrimonious exit from his boyhood club with Luca Toni on Instagram Live.
After 25 seasons with I Giallorossi, Totti retired at the age of 40 in 2017 as the club's all-time leading scorer with 307 in 785 appearances. The club legend and long-time captain had intended to keep playing, but felt he was forced out, saying the club hierarchy took the decision out of his hands and reneged on promises they had made him.
The players and coaching staff at Serie A side AS Roma have agreed to go without four months' salary to help the club through the crisis caused by the COVID-19 outbreak. Serie A has been suspended since March 9 and it is not known if or when the season will be able to re-start.