Serie A must be cancelled due to ‘the plague’ of coronavirus, says Brescia president Massimo Cellino

Former Leeds claims it is ‘time for realism’ and that he ‘does not believe in miracles’

Brescia president Massimo Cellino has called for the Serie A season to be cancelled due to “the plague” of coronavirus.

Italy is in lockdown, with more than 4,800 people having been killed there by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Cellino, who owned Leeds between 2014 and 2017, believes the severity of the global health crisis continues to be underestimated by some.

“You don’t have to think about when to start again, but if you survive,” he told the Corriere Dello Sport newspaper. “Everything has to be moved to the next season. It is time for realism, gentlemen. This is the plague.

“You can no longer play this year. Think about the next one. Some people still does not realise what is happening, and those people are worse than the virus. I don’t believe in miracles, I stopped doing it long ago. We reset.”

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Brescia were bottom of the division and destined for relegation when all domestic sporting activity at all levels in Italy was suspended on 9 March.

While Cellino has called for the competition to be scrapped, some clubs, including title-chasing Lazio and sixth-placed Napoli, are reportedly eager to return to training.

“Anyone who wants this cursed (title), take it. It is closed. Finished. And I am not saying this because Brescia is last in the standings,” Cellino added. “We are last because we deserve it.”

PA