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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Press Association

Coronavirus: Ex-Leeds chief Massimo Cellino insists Serie A season must be cancelled

Brescia president Massimo Cellino has called for the Serie A season to be cancelled due to "the plague" of coronavirus.

Italy is in lockdown, with more than 4,800 people having been killed there by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cellino, who owned Leeds between 2014 and 2017, believes the severity of the global health crisis continues to be underestimated by some.

"You don't have to think about when to start again, but if you survive," he told the Corriere Dello Sport newspaper.

"Everything has to be moved to the next season. It is time for realism, gentlemen. This is the plague.

"You can no longer play this year. Think about the next one.

Massimo Cellino was once owner of Leeds United (Getty Images)

"Some people still does not realise what is happening, and those people are worse than the virus.

"I don't believe in miracles, I stopped doing it long ago. We reset."

Brescia were bottom of the division and destined for relegation when all domestic sporting activity at all levels in Italy was suspended on March 9.

While Cellino has called for the competition to be scrapped, some clubs, including title-chasing Lazio and sixth-placed Napoli, are reportedly eager to return to training.

"Anyone who wants this cursed (title), take it. It is closed. Finished. And I am not saying this because Brescia is last in the standings," Cellino added.

"We are last because we deserve it."

Meanwhile Roma midfielder Javier Pastore also cannot see any way in which the current season will be concluded.

Serie A games were played behind closed doors before the season was eventually suspended (AFP via Getty Images)

Speaking to Radio Impacto Pastore said: "We'll see if we play again from this season or the next. To be honest, I think it'll be impossible to finish the season, as we need at least 20-30 days of training to be ready.

"All the clubs will lose money, but I think it's pretty much impossible to resume where we left off. It would mean ending later and later, so having to move the start of the next campaign.

"But we can't do that, because next summer there's the Euros, the Copa America, etc."

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