Coronavirus panic reaches Italy as Serie B clash is called off along with 41 other matches with player hospitalised

MORE THAN 40 games including a Serie B clash have been called off in Italy over coronavirus fears.

Ascoli’s home clash against Cremonese has been postponed, with Football Italia reporting that local authorities had “safety concerns”.

It comes after 41 other amateur, youth, semi-pro and Serie D matches in the Lombardy and Veneto region suffered the same fate.

The Serie B clash between Pisa and Venezia is also believed to be under threat.

And it appears the country is in panic mode following news breaking that an amateur footballer who plays for Codogno, 400miles from Ascoli, was hospitalised.

The 38-year-old, from Lodi, is “in a very serious condition in hospital” according to his parents, as reported by fanpage.it.

FOOTBALLER IN INTENSIVE CARE

His father continued: “He was already not well, but he was not in intensive care, he was in the ward.

“He had a fever on Sunday, he had a fever on Monday. He was admitted to the emergency room on Tuesday morning, then he was discharged.

“But when he got home he was not well and returned with a fever at 40.”

It has led to shops and restaurants being closed down in Codogno, where he plays his football.

Two people have died in the region so far – a 77-year-old and a 67-year-old. Twenty-nine people have been diagnosed with coronavirus in Italy.

Retired bricklayer Adriano Trevisan, 77, died in hospital in Padua on Friday evening.

The father-of-three had been admitted to hospital for another health issue 10 days ago, according to authorities.

A second patient, an Italian woman whose identity is yet to be released, died hours later in Lombardy.

No Serie A games have been called off at the time of writing.

Coronavirus has killed more than 2,100 people to date and infected at least 76,000 others.