It has been confirmed that UEFA Euro 2020 has been postponed until the summer of 2021, while all European leagues will be completed instead of being cancelled.
The vast majority of European leagues have been suspended as a result of the coronavirus outbreak which initially began in China during late 2019. Originally, the 2019/2020 Super League playoffs and playouts were due to start last weekend, however they were postponed indefinitely with the virus continuing to spread.
On Tuesday, UEFA held a conference call with representatives of all 55 member associations, subsequently deciding to postpone Euro 2020 until the summer of 2021. The tournament will now take place between June 11 and July 11 next year. The thinking behind this proposal is to complete the club season instead of cancelling it.
UEFA released this following statement concerning Euro 2020:
UEFA today announced the postponement of its flagship national team competition, UEFA EURO 2020, due to be played in June and July this 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.
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.
UEFA EURO 2020 was scheduled to take place in 12 cities across Europe from 12 June to 12 July 2020. The proposed new dates are 11 June to 11 July 2021. UEFA would like to reassure existing ticket buyers and hospitality clients that if they cannot attend the tournament in 2021, the face value of their tickets and packages will be refunded in full. Within the next month, further information on the refund process will be communicated to existing ticket buyers via email and on euro2020.com/tickets. Decisions on dates for other UEFA competitions, whether club or national team for men or women, will be taken and announced in due course.
UEFA today announced the postponement of UEFA EURO 2020.
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...
Full statement: 👇
— UEFA (@UEFA) March 17, 2020
Greece did not qualify for the competition after finishing behind Italy and Finland in Group J of the qualification process.
It has also been stated that the finals of the 2019/2020 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League will be put back to June. In the Europa League, Olympiacos are yet to play the second leg of their Last 16 tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers, with the score level at 1-1 after the first game in Piraeus.
According to the latest reports, UEFA wants all domestic championships to restart at the same time, preferably in April, May or even June at the latest. This would consequently allow the league season to be completed by late June so that the 2020/2021 campaign can begin on time in the summer.
Media sources in Greece have suggested that leagues could begin again on April 14.
More concrete information will be released as the situation progresses.
by Shaun Nicolaides
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