Right after completing the afternoon training session on Thursday (03/12/2020), Juventus made an announcement that shocked the world of football. On the club’s official website, “The Old Lady” confirmed the positive results of corona virus from a health test conducted to defender Daniele Rugani. On that basis, Juventus applies quarantine to all players, coaches, and club staff.
The health test was carried out after Rugani had a fever last Tuesday. From the test results, Rugani was diagnosed with corona virus, although the symptoms of the outbreak were not found in the 25-year-old player.
“Juventus Football Club is currently activating the isolation procedure for all parties who have interacted with him (Rugani),” wrote a statement on the club’s official website.
Throughout this season, Rugani performed seven times as a starting player. He last played when Juve faced SPAL on 22 February. Then, Rugani was on the bench when Juve visited Lyon in the last 16 of the European Champions League and faced Inter Milan in the Italian League last weekend.
Rugani also involved in a photo session conducted by the players in the Allianz Stadium dressing room after the match against Inter. The photo was uploaded by a number of Juve players, including Paolo Dybala, Leonardo Bonucci and Rugani himself.
In his personal Twitter and Instagram accounts, Rugani wrote, “You have heard the news and that is why I want to calm everyone who worries about me, I’m fine. In this moment, I thank the doctors and nurses who fought in the hospital to overcome this emergency. I ask all parties to respect the rules, because this virus does not make a difference! Let’s do it for ourselves, for the people we love, and the people around us. #thank you”.
In training on Wednesday afternoon, all Juve players attended the training session, except Cristiano Ronaldo, who since Monday has been in Madeira, Portugal, to accompany his mother, Maria Dolores, who is still being treated in hospital for stroke recovery.
Isolation
Inter, who are the last opponents of Juventus, have also officially stopped all club activities starting on Thursday until an undetermined time. Periodic isolation and health checks will be applied to all parties involved in the match in Turin.
“The club is currently taking steps to carry out the necessary procedures,” Inter’s official statement wrote on the official website.
Earlier, in early March, Juve also briefly quarantined all players and coaching staff of Juventus U-23 who competed in Serie C. Quarantine procedures were carried out by banning all players from leaving their homes and visiting the Juve training center in Continassa, Turin.
The move was taken after three players from Pianese tested positive for corona virus. The announcement was made after the match against Juve U-23. However, the three players did not play in the match won by Juve’s youth team 1-0.
Threatened
Due to the corona virus experienced by Rugani, the second match of the last 16 of the European Champions League against Lyon, March 18, threatened to be canceled. As for Wednesday, European soccer authorities, UEFA, have postponed two round of 16 Europa League matches involving two Italian teams, AS Roma and Inter.
The plane to be boarded by the Rome squad did not get permission to land in Sevilla, Spain. Meanwhile, the Getafe team refused to fly to Milan, Italy, due to an increasingly massive corona virus outbreak in the Lombardia Region, Italy.
On that basis, Lyon coach Rudi Garcia has urged UEFA to postpone Juve’s match against Lyon in Turin. “I remind you that all of Italy has been closed. And, we have to go to Turin, next Monday. “Surprisingly, the whole league in Italy has been banned, it should also apply to the Champions League,” said the former Roma coach.
President of the Italian Footballers Association Damiano Tommasi has urged that the Italian League be stopped this season. This is due to the lack of protection for players to anticipate the plague.
