Milan, May 19 (IANS): The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has confirmed that all its competitions, including Serie A, have been further suspended until June 14 amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.

It had been hoped it that Serie A would resume on June 13, which clubs selected as the target return date last week. However, the authorities declared on Monday that the league will now not be able to restart until June 15 at the earliest, reports goal.com.

In its new decree, the Italian government has suspended "sporting events and competitions of all types and disciplines, in public or private places" until June 14 as part of "urgent measures to contain the contagion throughout the national territory".

Following Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte's announcement, Serie A clubs had returned to training from Monday.

Serie A has been on hold since March 9 because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has so far claimed close to 3.2 lakh lives across the world.

The Serie A is one of the leagues in Europe that did not announce a premature end to the season. The French Ligue 1 thus far remains the only one among the continent's top five leagues to have done so with Paris St Germain declared champions.

While England's Premier League and Spain's LaLiga are yet to decide on a restart date, Germany's Bundesliga resumed matches behind closed doors on Saturday.