ROME – Four players from Sardinian club Cagliari and an AS Roma goalkeeper have tested positive for Coronavirus in recent days, raising alarm bells with regards to the new season.

 On Wednesday Cagliari discovered that three more of its squad, Croatian Filip Bradaric, Luca Ceppitelli and Alberto Cerri, had contracted the virus in addition to Bulgarian Kiril Despodov, currently quarantining in his home country. Meanwhile Roma’s Antonio Mirante became the fifth Serie A player to test positive although posted that he was asymptomatic. Two players from Roma’s youth team have also contracted the virus, reports Il fatto quotidiano.

 The outbreak of infections, after a successful restart to the Serie A season after lockdown, is connected to the holiday season and at least five of the six players other than Despodov had spent time in the Costa Smerelda region of Sardinia. Sardinia has recently been threatened by a significant increase in Covid-19 cases in various sites on the island, and there are concerns more Serie A players may have been infected as it is reportedly a popular destination for footballers.

 The proximity of the next season of Italian football means that these infections are of serious concern for Italian football authorities. AS Roma are due to start training once more on Aug. 27 while the league itself is set to begin on Sep. 19.

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