Italy: "No fans in the stadiums in January 2021" (V. Spadafora, Minister of Sports)

"I exclude that fans can return to the stadiums in January 2021. The return of spectators means controls, their transport, etc., and it is not a priority compared to the schools or the industrial sector," stated Vincenzo Spadafora, the Italian Minister for Youth and Sports Policy, on the public channel Rai3 on 29/12/2020.

"The Italian Championship is going pretty well, but it lacks a fundamental element, the public. I hope that from January 2021, football will start to reconnect with its fans," had said Gabriele Gravina, FIGC president, in the Italian daily Il Messagero on 27/12/2020.

The 2020-21 Serie A TIM matches have been played behind closed doors since 25/10/2020, under directives from the government of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. Between the end of September 2020 and that date, all outdoor sporting events could take place in front of a maximum of 1,000 spectators in Italy, after already seven months behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Everything was very complicated, Covid-19 forced us to review the priorities. However, the support and the…