Coppa Italia final to be played before Serie A restart

ROME (Reuters) - The Italian football season will resume with the final stages of the Coppa Italia knockout cup before Serie A gets under way on June 20, following a vote by the 20 top-tier clubs on Friday.

Serie A said in a statement that the "the sporting activity of the 2019/2020 season will resume firstly with the Coppa Italia" with the final to be played on June 17.

It did not give a date for the semi-final second leg matches, Napoli-Inter Milan and Juventus-AC Milan, which also have to be played. The season was suspended on March 9 as the coronavirus spread through Italy.

Serie A said that the decision followed a recommendation from Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora, who confirmed on Thursday that the season could resume following the coronavirus stoppage.

Milan president Paolo Scaroni had earlier said his club was opposed to restarting with the Coppa.

The clubs also voted to restart Serie A on the weekend of June 20-21 with four outstanding matches postponed earlier in the competition: Atalanta v Sassuolo, Hellas Verona v Cagliari, Inter v Sampdoria and Torino v Parma.

After that, there will be 12 full rounds of matches to play to complete the season.

Juventus, chasing a ninth successive title, lead the table with 63 points, one ahead of Lazio with Inter a further eight behind in third.

(Writing by Brian Homewood; Editing by Toby Davis)