After the reopening of bars and restaurants and the arrival of the first tourists to the Duomo and the Uffizi Gallery, Florence was only missing the return of football for the recovery to be “total”. This Monday evening, the capital of Tuscany was finally able to celebrate the return of Serie A, the Italian championship, after three long months of waiting.
And as a symbol, for the resumption of football in Tuscan lands, the Fiorentina de Franck Ribéry welcomed Brescia (red lantern of the championship), a Lombard city hard hit by the coronavirus. “Seeing the Brescia players coming here to Florence is the symbol that Italy is leaving,” enthuses an enthusiast, before the start of the match. The day before, Atalanta Bergamo, another transalpine “martyr city”, made a remarkable comeback on the lawns with its 4-1 success against Sassuolo. An equally psychological victory for the club and its supporters, left traumatized by their meeting of the Champions League against Valencia last February, today suspected of having promoted the spread of the virus in the city of Lombardy.
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Reunion behind closed doors
Monday evening, going around the Artemio-Franchi stadium in Florence, padlocked by the police, difficult to imagine, however, that the football was indeed back in the city of the Medici. Not a sound, not a whistle seemed to come out of this temple of Tuscan football. As at the time of the recovery in Germany, England or Spain, all the matches of the transalpine championship (like the final stages of the Italian Cup this month) are played for the moment in camera closed. A reunion which therefore leaves a little bitter taste to fans Italians. “It hurts me to know that the players are there, very close, and that I am stuck outside,” fulminates Alessandro, a die-hard supporter of Fiorentina. “It is the first time in 25 years that I have had to watch on television a game being played at home”, he deplores, pointing to the TV screen of a small bar, a few meters from the stadium , where some fans of the Viola have gathered.
Usually “there is a crowd”, swears Marco, in front of the streets which have remained deserted. “But health remains the main issue for the moment and the football is not above the rest, “tempers this Florentine. “In France, you were right to end the championship for this season. Without an audience, it’s worth nothing, ”says one of his comrades at the Fiesole turn. On the side of the Italian federation, we recognize it, in the stadiums “there is still a great coldness”, estimates its president Gabriele Gravina. “We hope that fans will soon be able to cheer on their teams, but it clearly requires patience and confidence in the scientific community,” he warns.
Tens of millions of euros in losses for clubs
However, for clubs, time is short. According to Gazzetta dello Sport, the financial losses caused by the stoppage of the matches would already exceed 60 million euros for the Italian teams. One hundred million, if the meetings were to be held behind closed doors for the ten days remaining, calculates the Italian daily.
For the atmosphere and for the finances of the clubs, the transalpine football authorities are therefore considering a rapid return of the public to the stands. Perhaps for the month of July, recently argued President Gabriele Gravina. But beware, not at full capacity, we already warn. Among the approximately 30,000 supporters of Fiorentina (3e club in Italy in number of subscribers), one question arises: “How are they going to choose who comes to the stadium and who doesn’t?” “
