``He has bronchial pneumonia. He is responding well to a course of antibiotics and his situation is not serious,'' press officer Stefano Balducci said from Bordeaux, where Italy face Chile in their World Cup opener tomorrow.

``Nevertheless, he has been told to rest completely for five to six days. He'll stay at our team hotel overnight and is expected to fly home to Italy tomorrow.''

Ravanelli fell ill yesterday morning and was diagnosed as having a persistent sore throat and high temperature. He missed a scheduled news conference and did not train with the rest of the squad.

The Italians were forced to decide today whether he should stay with the party or should be replaced. The Fifa deadline forsubstituting players on medical grounds expires as soon as the tournament starts at 1530 GMT today. Fifa described Ravanelli's illness as ``a serious case of influenza.''

Ravanelli's illness comes a week after his three-year-old son Luca was rushed to hospital in Italy with a virus which caused a fever and vomiting.