If there is one soccer team that is suffering due to the impact of coronavirus, it is the Italian football club, Juventus. Serie A defending champions are now facing problems because Cristiano Ronaldo has gone back to Portugal to visit his mother who had a stroke.

Source: Bleacher ReportAs explained by a training report on Wednesday, the club said, “Ronaldo has not trained and remains in Madeira pending developments related to the current health emergency.”Meanwhile, the Italian center back for Juventus, Daniele Rugani, has tested positive for coronavirus and therefore, the Serie A tournament has been called off by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).

Source: AS EnglishIt was a major setback for the team as they would not be able to compete anyway. Also, other members are being tested for the presence of the pandemic. However, Rugani has said that he feels “fine” and the assurance came right after Serie A was cancelled. “You’ve read the news, so I want to reassure everyone who’s worried about me, I’m fine. I urge everyone to respect the rules, because this virus makes no distinction! Let’s do it for ourselves, for our loved ones and for those around us”, he tweeted. Rugani’s presence has been quite crucial for the tournament as he starred in seven matches but was benched for the Sunday game against Inter Milan. Juventus won 2-0, but there were no spectators to celebrate as the Juventus Allianz Stadium was not open to the general public.

Source: The SaxonBut that didn’t stop Ronaldo from greeting some imaginary fans as he passed the stands reserved for the crowd. After they won the match, he also thanked the appreciation of the imaginary audience that came out to support Juventus.

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It is reported that all the media, technical staff, stadium staff and high ranking club officials were allowed inside the stadium but after having their temperatures and conditions thoroughly checked. There was no intense atmosphere and appeared almost boring for all those watching on the television. You could clearly hear the football rolling on the field, the coaches yelling orders and there was no sense of excitement whatsoever in the players. The Federation is facing issues as to how they should decide the fate of Serie A because of the current situation. Should they cancel the tournament for this year, should they include staging playoffs, or should they just decide the winner on the current position of the point table?

Source: India Today

Even though they still have not cancelled the event, the final decision related to Serie A might not arrive until April 3, which is the deadline for the lockdown in Italy. Italy is in a major crisis as the country is the second most affected in the world after China. According to the latest reports by Angelo Borrelli, head of Italy’s Civil Protection Agency, almost 250 people had lost their lives in one day increasing the total number to 1200.