Chief football medic Professor Enrico Castellacci suggests ‘if they had really wanted Serie A to resume, they would’ve copied the Bundesliga’ protocol for COVID-19.
The changes requested to the FIGC medical protocol – quarantining the entire group rather than just one person who tests positive – risks ruining the restart of Serie A before it has even begun.
Chief football medic Professor Enrico Castellacci suggests ‘if they had really wanted Serie A to resume, they would’ve copied the Bundesliga’ protocol for COVID-19.
The changes requested to the FIGC medical protocol – quarantining the entire group rather than just one person who tests positive – risks ruining the restart of Serie A before it has even begun.
The demands of the Government and their CTS (scientific committee) are proving too much for Serie A clubs to deal with, and simply impossible for Serie B sides.
“If they had really wanted Serie A to resume, they would’ve copied the Bundesliga methodology, as that is by far the most acceptable,” Professor Castellacci told TMW Radio.
“It’ll be ok to lock everyone into a training retreat for 15 days, but I don’t think they can stay away from family for two-and-a-half months. Not to mention, the moment they travel for an away game, the chances of running into someone who has COVID-19 and no symptoms increase exponentially.
“If that happens, everything grinds to a halt. So I have to ask myself, do they really want to allow football to resume or do they just want it to stop without the politicians directly ordering it?”
Another serious problem that arose with the changes to the medical protocol was the issue of culpability, as the club medic will be considered liable if anyone contracts COVID-19.
“A medic has to do his job, preserve the safety of players and staff, but he can’t be watching them 24 hours a day,” continued former Italy medic Castellacci.
“Many of these medics in Serie B only work for these clubs part-time. If we have to make multiple tests, then we need the Minister for Health to provide us with the supplies, ensuring we take nothing away from the local population. It’s going to require 11,000 swabs immediately.
“Again, in Germany they have more swabs than we do, yet still aren’t going to interrupt the whole season if one person tests positive. You can tell there that they genuinely want the season to continue, just quarantine the player for two weeks.
“I can’t even make predictions anymore on when or if we’ll resume, because over the last two months it’s been a nightmare. Let’s just say that if we do start playing, there’s a very good chance it’ll be interrupted again.”