Coronavirus: Impossible to finish Serie A season – Pastore

Roma midfielder Javier Pastore believes it will be impossible to finish the Serie A season as coronavirus ravages Italy.

Italy has been in lockdown for almost two weeks as its government attempt to contain the coronavirus pandemic, which has claimed the lives of more than 4,800 people in the country.

There were over 790 deaths recorded in Italy on Saturday, with sport across the globe put on hold – Serie A has been suspended until at least April while UEFA postponed Euro 2020 until next year.

Italian Footballers' Association (AIC) president Damiano Tommasi said the Serie A season could resume in May or June if all goes well amid the COVID-19 emergency, but Pastore has serious doubts over the conclusion of the 2019-20 campaign.

"We'll see if we play again from this season or the next. To be honest, I think it'll be impossible to finish the season, as we need at least 20-30 days of training to be ready," the Argentina international told Radio Impacto.

"All the clubs will lose money, but I think it's pretty much impossible to resume where we left off. It would mean ending later and later, so having to move the start of the next campaign.

"But we can't do that, because next summer there's the Euros, the Copa America, etc."

Prior to the Serie A hiatus, defending champions Juventus topped the table by one point ahead of Lazio.

The last top-flight fixture was between Sassuolo and Brescia, with the former winning 3-0 on March 9.