Juventus players Rugani, Matuidi recover from COVID-19

ISTANBUL

Juventus players Daniele Rugani and Blaise Matuidi have recovered from COVID-19, the Italian football club announced on Wednesday.

In a statement, Juventus said both players underwent "a double check" and the test results were negative.

"The players have, therefore, recovered and are no longer subjected to the home isolation regime," read the statement.

French World Cup winner Matuidi tested positive on March 18, less than a week after Italian defender Rugani was diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 12.

The 25-year-old Rugani was the first player in the Italian Serie A to test positive for the coronavirus.

Europe, along with the U.S., is the hardest-hit area in the world and Italy is among the worst-affected countries on the continent.

More than 162,400 cases have been confirmed in the country, with the death toll over 21,000 and almost 37,200 recoveries, according to government data.

Italian football leagues were suspended on March 9, initially until the beginning of April.

As the country’s COVID-19 crisis deepened, Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora said on March 18 that Serie A matches would not resume until at least May 3.

However, at the end of March, the minister announced that Italian football would not restart on May 3, terming the target “unrealistic”.

He told Italian daily La Repubblica that Serie A teams had "made a mistake" by playing on despite the COVID-19 outbreak.