TheNewsGuru

Tag: Italy

  • Italy calls for all sports events to be cancelled until April 3

    Italy calls for all sports events to be cancelled until April 3

    Italy’s top sports body on Monday called for all sports events to be cancelled until April 3.

    It asked the government to issue a decree to enforce the measure as the country fights with the worst coronavirus outbreak in Europe.

    After a meeting between representatives from all Italian team sports federations, the National Olympic Committee (CONI) said in a statement the government should intensify its measures against the virus.

    “Health protection is the top priority for everyone,” the statement said.

    It added there was a unanimous agreement that sports activity at every level should be suspended until April 3.

    However, the statement noted international competitions, for both clubs and national teams, do not fall within CONI’s jurisdiction and so cannot be influenced by its decision.

    This include UEFA football tournaments such as the UEFA Champions League, in which Italy’s Serie A leaders Juventus are set to host France’s Lyon on March 17.

    There was also the Europa League, in which Inter Milan and AS Roma have home games scheduled against Spain’s Getafe and Sevilla on March 12 and 19 respectively.

    The government had already ordered that all sports events, including Serie A matches, must be played behind closed doors to avoid crowds of people that could boost the contagion.

    The closed-doors games at the weekend caused chaos.

    Italy’s sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora called Serie A organisers “irresponsible” after they ignored a late call from the players’ union for the day’s matches to be suspended.

    The chaotic situation saw Parma’s clash with SPAL delayed by 75 minutes.

    The previous two rounds of fixtures were heavily disrupted by the spread of the virus as several games were suspended.

    Cases of coronavirus in Italy have now risen to 7,375, with 366 deaths, the highest number outside of China.

  • Coronavirus: Buhari sympathizes with Italy, Iran, South Korea

    Coronavirus: Buhari sympathizes with Italy, Iran, South Korea

    Nigeria’s President President Muhammadu Buhari Sunday sent messages to Presidents Hassan Rouhani and Moon Jae-in of Iran and South Korea respectively, and the Prime Minister of Italy, Guiseppo Conte, expressing “deep sympathies” following increasing incidents of the deadly Coronavirus in their countries.

    In the messages, President Buhari said the Nigerian government would continue to diligently carry out its duty to the international community by ensuring that the spread of the disease is curtailed.

    The President also encouraged Nigerians to continue to show support to citizens of all the countries who are resident in Nigeria.

    According to him, “There is no cause for panic. Italy, South Korea and Iran remain Nigeria’s allies in good and bad times.”

    Buhari, in a statement issued by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, while commending the three countries on their efforts to contain the virus, expressed confidence that, “with the support of the World Health Organisation and other global agencies all working together to contain the virus, it will only be a matter of time before the world sees an end to this disease.”

    The Nigerian leader noted that, “So far, there have been no known cases of the disease on Nigerian soil, but for the penetration of a lone foreign national found to be a carrier of the virus.”

    He also commended the diligent efforts of federal, state health officials as well as ports and border personnel in keeping Nigeria safe from the epidemic.

    In fulfillment of the President’s promise to give the health authorities all that they need to keep Nigeria clear of the virus, the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning confirmed making the second approved payment in the sum N620 million last Friday, bringing the total payments made so far to N984 million.

  • Coronavirus: Italy puts 15million people under lockdown

    Coronavirus: Italy puts 15million people under lockdown

    About 15 million people, a quarter of the Italian population, were locked down Sunday as the government takes drastic steps to stop the spread of the deadly new coronavirus that is sweeping the globe.

    The quarantine zones include the regions around Venice and financial capital Milan, while cinemas, theatres and museums will be closed nationwide.

    The measures in place until April 3 bar people from entering or leaving vast areas of northern Italy without good reason, according to a decree signed by the prime minister and published online.

    Italy has seen the most deaths from the COVID-19 disease of any country outside China, where the outbreak that has now killed more than 3,500 people and infected over 100,000 worldwide began in December.

    As recorded deaths in Italy soared to 233 on Saturday, the Vatican announced Pope Francis’s Angelus prayer — normally delivered by the 83-year-old pontiff from his window — would be broadcast as a livestream.

    Italy has the world’s second-oldest population after Japan, according to the World Bank, and elderly people appear to be more vulnerable to becoming severely ill from the virus.

    Retired doctors are being recruited to bolster the Italian healthcare system, while civil protection officials say Lombardy region is having trouble finding beds in hospitals.

    The Italian measures come as Argentina on Saturday became the first Latin American country to report a fatality from the virus that has affected 95 nations and territories.

    Colombia, Costa Rica, Malta, the Maldives, Bulgaria and Paraguay have also announced their first cases.

    The number of infections in South Korea passed 7,000 on Saturday — the highest in the world outside China.

    Iran’s 21 new deaths from the epidemic and 1,076 fresh cases reported Saturday brought the overall tolls there to 145 dead and 5,823 infected.

    However in China, the number of new cases reported Sunday nationwide was the lowest in weeks, with nearly all 44 of them in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province and epicentre of the outbreak.

    The government has hinted it may soon lift the quarantine imposed on Hubei, where some 56 million people have been effectively housebound since late January.

    The only infections in China beyond Hubei were imported from abroad, including arrivals from Italy and Spain in Beijing.

    The WHO said the efforts of China and other countries were “demonstrating that spread of the virus can be slowed” with the path of the disease even “reversed through the implementation of robust containment and control activities”.

    The virus has hit international business, tourism, and sports events, with almost 300 million students sent home worldwide as schools and universities close.

    The Scotland-France women’s rugby match scheduled for Saturday in Glasgow was postponed after a Scottish player tested positive for the coronavirus, Scottish Rugby said.

    Organisers of the Barcelona marathon on Saturday postponed the event, which had been scheduled for March 15, until October 25.

    And in Canada, the International Ice Hockey Federation called off the Women’s World Ice Hockey Championships, which had been set to run from March 31 to April 10.

    Saudi Arabia reopened an area in Mecca’s Grand Mosque, Islam’s holiest site, after suspending the year-long umra pilgrimage during which worshippers circle the Kaaba seven times.

    However, access to the Kaaba is still blocked and the Grand Mosque is being sterilised.

  • Coronavirus :Italy bans kisses, handshakes

    Coronavirus :Italy bans kisses, handshakes

    Italians have been advised to refrain from the traditional greeting of kissing on the cheek and hugging as part of effort to stop the spread of coronavirus, Silvio Brusaferro, president of Italy’s higher health institute, said on Wednesday.

     

    According to ANSA, Brusaferro also revealed that people should regularly wash their hands, avoid crowded places and keep a distance of one to two metres from other people.

    “People with respiratory conditions have been advised to stay at home. We have to work for the country by staying within the rules and adopting lifestyles that halt the classic paths of transmission,” Brusaferro said.

    About 2,263 people have been infected with the COVID-19 disease in Italy with 107 deaths, making the European country the world’s third-most affected by number of fatalities after China and Iran.

    Giuseppe Conte, Italy’s prime minister, also released a decree, which told the nation, among other restrictions, that the public should refrain from the traditional Italian greeting of kissing each other on the cheek.

    He added that classrooms will shut down until March 15, and all sporting events will take place without fans until April 3, to help tackle the epidemic.

    TheNewsGuru recalls that Pope Francis was reported to have tested negative to coronavirus — shortly after he cancelled a Lent retreat for the first time over ill health.

    This was after the pontiff was seen kissing and embracing the faithful in St Peter’s Square last week.

    Olivier Véran, France’s health minister, had also warned against a long-time French tradition of “la bise” — the tradition of planting a kiss on a person’s cheek multiple times — over coronavirus fears.

    “Reduction of physical social contact is recommended. This includes la bise,” Véran told reporters on Saturday, adding that people should also avoid handshakes.

     

  • Nigerian footballer contracts coronavirus in Italy

    Nigerian footballer contracts coronavirus in Italy

    22-year-old Italian-Nigerian footballer, King Udoh, has tested positive to the coronavirus (Covid-19).

    According to reports, Udoh who plays professional football with Pianese, an Italian Serie C side team, is currently in the infectious disease department of La Scotte hospital in Siena and is said to be in good condition. They quarantined him last weekend after he started feeling feverish.

    Italy is the European country most affected by the Coronavirus epidemic.

  • Coronavirus death toll increases in Italy

    Coronavirus death toll increases in Italy

    Italy has recorded an increase in the death toll from Covid-19 on Monday after an 84-year-old man died in a hospital in the city of Bergamo.

    According to the Regional President, Attilio Fontana, the man had suffered from pre-existing conditions.

    After the Civil Protection Agency gave a nationwide rally of 152 on Sunday, the number of people infected with the new coronavirus has increased to 165 in Lombardy alone. Lombardy, home to 10 million people and the city of Milan, is Italy’s worst-hit region.

    Videos and photos have appeared online showing empty shelves and long queues at supermarkets in Milan, but Fontana said there was no need for panic buying, as food supply was secured.

    However, government decided on Saturday to block access to 10 municipalities in Lodi province South of Milan, forcibly confining tens of thousands of people. A municipality in Veneto is also on lockdown.

  • Alleged $500m bribe: Nigerian oil mogul Aliyu Abubakar faces trial in Italy

    Alleged $500m bribe: Nigerian oil mogul Aliyu Abubakar faces trial in Italy

    An Italian judge has ordered a Nigerian businessman, Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar to stand trial for alleged international corruption relating to a Nigeria oil graft case involving Eni and Shell, a judicial source and his lawyer said on Wednesday.

    Milan prosecutors allege that Abubakar, a reclusive billionaire and chairman of AA Oil, played a central role in one of the oil industry’s biggest scandals in years, handing out more than $500 million in cash to powerful Nigerian government officials.

    The money is alleged to come out of the $1.3 billion licence fee paid by Eni and Shell for access to the OPL-245 offshore oilfield located in the southern Niger Delta.

    Abubakar’s Italian lawyer, Davide Pozzi, said his client, who lives in Nigeria, denies any wrongdoing in the case.

    “Mr Abubakar will clarify his position in the appropriate place,” he said.

    The famous house of Aliyu Abubakar in Abuja. he once said he bought the land for N1billion in 2005

    Italian prosecutors allege that Eni and Shell bought the oilfield in 2011 knowing that most of the purchase price would be siphoned off to middlemen and local politicians.

    Both firms and the managers accused in the Milan court case, including Eni’s current chief executive Claudio Descalzi, have denied any wrongdoing.

    Abubakar, an influential Nigerian businessman, was already under investigation but prosecutors were unable to locate him to serve the necessary deeds to put him on trial until he appeared in the case as a witness via a video linkup in February 2019.

    The start of his trial has been scheduled for May 14 before a Milan court, Pozzi said. However it is unclear whether he will actually appear.

    In the main part of the multi-strand case, prosecutors are due to begin summing up and setting out sentencing requests for Descalzi and other defendants beginning on March 25.

    *Reuters

  • Italy asks UEFA to reconsider 2020 Champions League final in Turkey

    Italy’s Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora has urged European football governing body UEFA to reconsider the decision to play next year’s Champions League final in Istanbul after Turkey’s bloody offensive against the Kurds in northern Syria.

    Spadafora wrote to UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin asking “to consider whether it is appropriate to keep the Champions League final in Istanbul” after Turkey’s “very grave acts against the Kurdish civilian population.”

    In the letter, quoted by Italian news agency ANSA, Spadafora referred to the European Union’s condemnation of Turkish actions and called on European football “to take the most courageous choice and to show, once again, that football is an instrument of peace”.

    The Champions League final is scheduled for May 30, 2020.

  • Italy seals Euro 2020 qualification

    Italy seals Euro 2020 qualification

    Italy secured their place at next year’s Euro 2020 finals by beating Greece 2-0 in Rome.

    After a goalless first half, Chelsea midfielder Jorginho opened the scoring from the penalty spot after Andreas Bouchalakis’ handball.

    Substitute Federico Bernardeschi added a late second with a dipping effort from distance.

    The win means Italy top Group J with 21 points, an unassailable 11 points clear of third-placed Armenia.

    Greece needed to win to keep their own qualification hopes alive but they rarely threatened.

    Italy had been booed off at half-time after failing to manage a single shot on target but they were much improved after the break, with Jorginho’s opener visibly relaxing his team-mates.

  • Jose Mourinho rules out Serie A return

    Jose Mourinho rules out Serie A return

    Jose Mourinho has ruled out returning to management in Italy.

    The former Inter Milan boss, who has been out of work since being sacked by Manchester United at the end of last year, has been linked with a number of Serie A jobs.

    More recently, however, it has been reported he could return to Real Madrid to replace Zinedine Zidane, who has won half of all his matches in charge this season despite sitting top of La Liga.

    Speaking to Italian TV show Tiki Taka, Mourinho said: “I haven’t worked for seven, eight months so we’ll see what happens.

    “But I don’t think I’ll come back to work in Italy. It’s a sensation, but I don’t think my future will be in Italy.”

    As Inter boss, Mourinho won a Champions League-Serie A double in 2010 – his second of two league titles while in Italy, but the president who hired him, Massimo Morratti, has since left the club.

    “Inter is my home and Moratti remains both my president and friend,” Mourinho said. “When I say he, I say family. It’s as if he was my family, and I feel his family in a special way: everyone here is really special.

    “My job also consists of finding the empathy I had with Inter fans. I give my all. I join a club, I take the shirt, I wear it and I live with that shirt.”