It is no longer news that the world is fighting a pandemic. In the wake of global crisis, UEFA has announced the postponement of its flagship national team competition, UEFA EURO Championship tagged EURO 2020, due to be played in June and July 2020 to next year. The health of all those involved in the game is the priority, as well as to avoid placing any unnecessary pressure on national public services involved in staging matches. The move will help all domestic competitions, currently on hold due to the COVID-19 emergency, to be completed.
All UEFA competitions and matches (including friendlies) for clubs and national teams for both men and women have been put on hold until further notice. The UEFA EURO 2020 Play-off matches and international friendlies, scheduled for the end of March, will now be played in the international window at the start of June, subject to a review of the situation.
The next question on everyone lips is the European club football calendar – the domestic leagues, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League competitions. UEFA President, Aleksander Čeferin announced that a working group has been set up with the participation of leagues and club representatives to examine calendar solutions that would allow for the completion of the current season and any other consequence of the decisions made today.
The decisions, taken by UEFA’s Executive Committee, followed videoconference meetings held on Tuesday with the Presidents and General Secretaries of the 55 national associations, as well as representatives of the European Club Association, European Leagues and FIFPro Europe, convened by Čeferin, to find a coherent plan to break the logjam of fixtures building up due to the spread of the virus across the continent.
“We are at the helm of a sport that vast numbers of people live and breathe that has been laid low by this invisible and fast-moving opponent. It is at times like these, that the football community needs to show responsibility, unity, solidarity and altruism. “The health of fans, staff and players has to be our number one priority and in that spirit, UEFA tabled a range of options so that competitions can finish this season safely and I am proud of the response of my colleagues across European football. There was a real spirit of co-operation, with everyone recognizing that they had to sacrifice something in order to achieve the best result.
With the postponement of the European Championships as well as the 2020 Copa America by CONMEBOL, there is a possibility that domestic leagues in Europe can be concluded before the end of June. In England, it is understood that if the restrictions on mass gatherings are not lifted, officials are open to the idea of staging matches behind closed doors in order to complete fixtures.
There are implications to non-completion of domestic leagues in Europe with special focus on the top five leagues. For example, the English Premier League broadcast partners and sponsors might be seeking compensation to the tune of £750m if the Premier League breaches its £3bn domestic live television contract by not completing its fixtures. That is a huge financial hit on the league organizers and it is similar in Spain, Italy, Germany and France.
The world has a common enemy that is threatening the existence of man and also destroying businesses and partnership. However, there is hope that within the shortest period, the virus spread would be contained and major financial losses in sports cut to the barest minimum.