CONI President Giovanni Malagò has revealed that he feels a bit “ashamed” to be dealing with sports in a national emergency. “There are more important things than football”.
Serie A has been suspended but some of the European games have still been carried out behind closed doors.
Italy are in complete lockdown and the CONI President has claimed that people will just have to get used to being without sport for a while.
CONI President Giovanni Malagò has revealed that he feels a bit “ashamed” to be dealing with sports in a national emergency. “There are more important things than football”.
Serie A has been suspended but some of the European games have still been carried out behind closed doors.
Italy are in complete lockdown and the CONI President has claimed that people will just have to get used to being without sport for a while.
“Getting used to the absence of sport is a problem for many. But this is marginal, and this word is even reductive compared to what we are experiencing,” Malagò told Gazzetta dello Sport. “We almost feel ashamed to deal with all this.
“There are other emergencies now, other problems, other situations, and all the indications that could help stop the virus needs to be respected.
“Then of course, we can help people live better during this period. I’m thinking, for example, of a campaign that could invite people to do physical activity in their homes.
The CONI chief revealed that he is tired of answering questions about the proceedings in Serie A and claimed there are “more important things than football” in this period.
“I don’t want to start talking about Serie A,” he said. “I can tell you what happened on Sunday, when I had to charge the battery on my phone three times to answer all the calls from the Presidents of all the teams.
“What do we do, do we stop? There were sports, just look at volleyball, which stopped for women and played for men, or others who made different choices according to the division.
“I said: ‘Gentlemen, it’s not possible’. There’s only one choice to make and we have to do it together.
“If this will all be helpful to make a change? Of course, it will change. This thing will provoke a belief in people’s conscience: there are more important things than football.”