FIGC President Giancarlo Abete explains why all games were called off this weekend and pledged defibrillators will be mandatory in stadiums.
FIGC President Giancarlo Abete explains why all games were called off this weekend and pledged defibrillators will be mandatory in stadiums.
Football matches were suspended after 25-year-old Piermario Morosini collapsed and died during Saturday’s Pescara-Livorno Serie B tie.
It is not yet clear when the Serie A fixtures will be rescheduled, as “that decision will be made by the Lega on Monday.
“They will decide whether to recover this round later or push all the fixtures back by a week.
“We did not take into consideration the option of playing all the games on Sunday, as we wanted to send a signal amid this tragedy,” said Abete.
“By stopping the Leagues, we feel that we made the right decision, considering we were minutes away from kick-off in Milan–Genoa.
“There was great support from CONI President Gianni Petrucci, while I also spoke with the Presidents of the Lega Pro, Players’ Association and others. The Federation took the independent decision, but found no disagreement anyway.”
Udinese and Livorno have already confirmed they’ll set up a fund to help Morosini’s sister, who is his only remaining relative and depended on him financially.
“We will be close to Morosini’s family. The FIGC is present and will co-ordinate with other organisations so this tragedy cannot lead to others.
“We will ask for defibrillators to be mandatory in stadiums on the side of the pitch.”