Serie A players can train again on May 4

ROME • Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte gave the go-ahead on Sunday for Serie A footballers to start training again next week amid the coronavirus pandemic, although no date was set for the league to resume.

In a televised address to the country, he announced measures to ease the lockdown, which has been in place since March 9, including the reopening of some non-essential businesses from Monday and allowing for limited family visits.

On the football front, Mr Conte said individual training could start on Monday, although players are to adhere to social distancing rules, with team training from May 18.

Authorities on Sunday reported a third straight daily fall in Covid-19 fatalities, with 260 deaths, the country's lowest number since March 14.

With the rate of new cases slowing down and the number of patients in intensive care dropping steadily, there appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel.

However, the government is taking a conservative and measured approach to restarting the economy, including Serie A, with movement between regions still suspended.

Mr Conte said Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora will work "intensively" with scientists and leading figures in the game to ensure training would be safe to proceed.

"Then we will try to see if they can continue with the championships that are suspended," he said. "We will only reach this conclusion if it can be guaranteed that it is safe. We don't want our athletes to get sick... Like many Italians, I initially found it strange that the championship could be interrupted or suspended, but even the most ardent fan understands that there wasn't an alternative."

The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has already drawn up a medical protocol for training.

For training to resume, each club will form a group of players, technical staff, doctors and physiotherapists who will be tested and then isolated in a summer-style training camp.

There are also plans to donate five Covid-19 test kits for each kit used by clubs to avoid the criticism that football is taking away much-needed medical resources from areas that need them more.

Title holders Juventus are one point clear of second-placed Lazio (62) at the top, with 12 rounds left to play.

The situation in Spain is not too dissimilar to Italy in terms of the number of infections and deaths, but the Spanish authorities will be even more cautious than their Italian counterparts when it comes to football.

La Liga president Javier Tebas last week said he was targeting May 4 as the date when top-flight clubs resume training, with a possible resumption date late next month, if not early to late June.

That appears to be optimistic, though, after Spain Health Minister Salvador Illa told reporters that he could not see football returning before the summer.

On La Liga's proposal to implement daily Covid-19 testing for all its players, he added the league first had to seek approval from the government before rolling out the plan.

Ensuring players are free from the disease will only be one of the safeguards La Liga has to enact before play can resume. Rafa Ramos, president of the association of Spanish football club doctors, also called for the sterilisation of all balls and pitches at regular intervals, including pre-and post-match.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS