'Madness' to restart Serie A, says Brescia president after contracting coronavirus

Massimo Cellino says Serie A season 'has to end here'

Brescia president Massimo Cellino is adamant Serie A should be abandoned this season. Getty

Brescia president Massimo Cellino called plans to restart Serie A "madness" after announcing that he had contracted the coronavirus.

Football in Italy was shut down on March 9 as the country became devastate by the Covid-19 outbreak with authorities and league officials contemplating when it will be safe to resume.

Cellino said Brescia will not take part in any remaining Serie A matches and called for the season to be called to a halt permanently.

"[Serie A head Luigi] De Siervo called and asked me if I was prepared to play on neutral turf," Cellino told sports daily Tuttosport.

"I told him I am not prepared to play anywhere. The season has to end here, and we certainly cannot go beyond June 30. I hear talk of September or October, it's madness."

Former Leeds United and Cagliari chairman Cellino, 63, had revealed on Saturday that he and his daughter had contracted the virus.

"I have been in Cagliari [where he was born] for a few days, after having been in quarantine in Brescia for three weeks," Cellino told daily La Repubblica, adding that he felt "pain in my bones".

Cellino has been a frequent critic of attempts to finish the current season, insisting earlier this month that he was ready for his team to forfeit games rather than play again this campaign.

The Brescia area in Lombardy has been at epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic in Italy, where over 23,000 people have died since the start of the outbreak - second only to the United States.

Earlier this month Brescia players agreed to a pay cut to help the club through the suspension.