Brescia President Massimo Cellino confirms he has contracted the coronavirus, along with his daughter. “I felt excessively tired and pain in my bones.”

The reports emerged in Sardegna 1 this evening that Cellino had tested positive for antibodies, suggesting he had contracted COVID-19 and recovered from it without having any symptoms.

A few hours later, Cellino confirmed to La Repubblica that he has contracted the illness.

Brescia President Massimo Cellino confirms he has contracted the coronavirus, along with his daughter. “I felt excessively tired and pain in my bones.”

The reports emerged in Sardegna 1 this evening that Cellino had tested positive for antibodies, suggesting he had contracted COVID-19 and recovered from it without having any symptoms.

A few hours later, Cellino confirmed to La Repubblica that he has contracted the illness.

“I have been in Cagliari for a few days, after having stayed in quarantine in Brescia for three weeks,” said the former Cagliari and Leeds United patron.

“I went to hospital for some tests. The media got hold of the fact my daughter had the virus, but my son didn’t. I am the one with it going on right now.

“The symptoms I had were I felt excessively tired and had pain in my bones.”

Brescia, Bergamo and Milan are in Lombardy, the epicentre of the Italian pandemic, as that region holds around half of all the deaths from this disease.

He is the first Serie A President to test positive, but in Serie B there has already been the case of Pordenone patron Mauro Lovisa.

Cellino has been adamant that Serie A should not resume after the pandemic and this news will only have made him even more determined to block everything.

“It’s absurd that we are discussing whether to play or not. We are fortunate men, I have a villa in Cagliari and one in Miami, but there are nine million Italians living under the poverty line.

“The country should be closer to its people and a €600 cheque isn’t going to do much. I am embarrassed by the lack of sensitivity shown by this Government. I’m seriously thinking about taking a British passport.”

Lazio and President Claudio Lotito have been the most vocal in calling for Serie A to resume and Cellino is unimpressed.

“The people of Brescia defend me, they tell me that I wish to honour their dead and will be offended if I let the team play again. I am not afraid of relegation, I’ll gladly go into Serie B, but I will not lack respect for this town.

“We’ve got Lotito around here who acts as medic, virologist, nuclear scientist, psychologist, astronaut… If they moved the European Championships and the Olympics, how can we think of playing next month?

“The problem is that the FIGC has its HQ in Rome, so who do you think is going over every day to put pressure on them, in your opinion? If Gabriele Gravina and the Federation are struggling under the pressure, let them gain strength from the CONI.”

Cellino also floats a hypothesis as to why the clubs are so eager to finish the season.

“There are €180m with the Lega Serie A destined for the teams that finish in the top 10. These bonuses have already been put into the balance sheet by the clubs. Now, if the season doesn’t end and Sky don’t pay the TV rights, what happens to the clubs who already spent that money?

“I ask the Presidents of the FIGC and CONI to take responsibility, because next year we risk having 10 bankrupt clubs in Serie A.”

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