{"id":548835,"date":"2020-04-08T05:27:37","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T09:27:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonfootball.com\/?p=548835"},"modified":"2020-04-08T05:27:37","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T09:27:37","slug":"report-serie-a-director-claims-premier-league-season-will-be-declared-finished","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2020\/04\/08\/report-serie-a-director-claims-premier-league-season-will-be-declared-finished\/","title":{"rendered":"REPORT: Serie A Director Claims Premier League Season Will Be Declared Finished"},"content":{"rendered":"

Speaking to Football Italia<\/a>, Pierpaolo Marino, director at Udinese, has suggested that the Premier League season is to be declared over imminently.<\/p>\n

Premier League Season is Over, According to Serie A Director<\/h2>\n

Current Situation<\/h3>\n

The Premier League announced on Monday 5 April that football will not return on April 30, and it will only return when safe to do so.<\/p>\n

As a result, this has left clubs to figure out how they will deal with the financial implications of the coronavirus pandemic. Tottenham<\/a>, Newcastle United<\/a> and Norwich City<\/a> have all placed staff on furlough leave as a cost-cutting measure.<\/p>\n

However, Pierpaolo Marino now believes that the Premier League will announce that its season is over. He said: \u201cThe Belgian Federation has already sanctioned the end of their league, despite the threats of sanctions from UEFA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn England, the Premier League is about to release a similar statement, because the situation there is becoming very, very serious. I frankly just hope we can enjoy football again after the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter how long it takes, we need to get out of this danger zone. I am worried for the next seasons, not the old one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marino’s Udinese are owned by the Pozzo family, who also own relegation-threatened Watford.<\/p>\n

Financial Implications<\/h3>\n

Declaring the season over is likely to have major financial implications on all 20 clubs.<\/p>\n

According to the BBC,<\/a> the English top-flight ‘could lose \u00a31 billion’ should football not return soon. Furthermore, it also estimated that clubs will have to repay over \u00a3700 million<\/a> to TV companies in lost revenue.<\/p>\n

Should the 2019\/20 season finish, it is unclear as to how final places would be settled. Declaring it ‘null and void’ is likely to bring legal ramifications. It would deny Liverpool<\/a> a first title in 30 years, and have a re-occurring effect filtering down into the EFL, as it is unclear how promotion would be settled.<\/p>\n

Main Photo
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>