Paulo Dybala tests positive for coronavirus for fourth time in six weeks - report

Juventus forward had announced on March 21 that he had contracted the disease

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Argentine footballer Paulo Dybala has tested positive for coronavirus for the fourth time in six weeks, according to a report.

The Juventus forward had announced on March 21 that he and his girlfriend Oriana Sabatini had contracted Covid-19. According to Spanish programme El Chiringuito, Dybala has had four tests since and his most recent test has come back positive as well.

Neither the defending Serie A champions or the player have responded to the claims, but if confirmed it will rule Dybala out of returning to training with his teammates from May 4 to May 18 as Italy looks to resume its 2019-20 season following the coronavirus-enforced shutdown on March 9.

Dybala has scored 13 goals in all competitions this season, including in league leaders Juventus' last game against Inter Milan on March 8.

Dybala is not the first Serie A player to test positive more than once of Covid-19. Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Sportiello tested positive, then negative, then positive again.

The forward, 26, had previously talked about his painful experience after he and his girlfriend contracted the coronavirus and how he "struggled to breathe".

"Luckily [we are] much better, these days we do not have any symptoms," Dybala had told Juventus' YouTube channel last month.

"I had stronger symptoms, I got tired very quickly, when I wanted to train, I was short of breath after five minutes.

"There we noticed that something was not right and through the tests the club did we were told that we were positive.

"From there we had more symptoms, such as cough, tired body and when we slept I felt very cold, but from the club they had told us that we were going to be fine so we had to be calm."

Dybala is one of the three Juventus players to have contracted coronavirus, along with Blaise Matuidi and Daniele Rugani.

French midfielder Matuidi and Italian defender Rugani - the first player in Serie A to test positive for the virus - tested negative for Covid-19 earlier this month, the club said, and were "no longer subject to the home isolation regime".

Meanwhile, Italian Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora warned on Wednesday that Italy may have to follow France and the Netherlands and call an end to their football and sports seasons because of the pandemic.

"I see an increasingly narrow path for the resumption of the championship. If I were a president of a football club, I would especially think of organising myself to safely resume the next championship which will start at the end of August," Spadafora told Italian television channel La 7.

"The decisions being taken by other countries, like France yesterday, could push Italy to follow this line too, which would then become a European line.

"I think the next meeting of the Lega Serie A may hold a surprise," said Spadafora, with Italy's top flight clubs holding an emergency general assembly on Friday.

"The majority of clubs could ask us to suspend this season and prepare for the next championship as best possible."

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Players who tested positive