Euro 2020 is set to be put on hold for twelve months today.
Emergency UEFA meetings via video conference involving all member associations, including the English FA, are taking place to discuss the current state and future of European football amid the coronavirus pandemic.
One of the key decisions to be made will be whether to postpone Euro 2020 until the summer of 2021.
That is widely expected to happen, with the intention of allowing the Champions League, Europa League and domestic leagues to be played to their conclusion this season.
Euro 2020 is due to start on June 12 and finish on July 12. The final, semi-finals, a last-16 match and all three of England’s group games are scheduled to be played at Wembley in London.
UEFA’s postponement plans would keep the same format and the same twelve venues across Europe but would simply delay the event by a year.
According to The Athletic, however, UEFA will demand compensation of around £275million from clubs in order to push the Euros back.
Meanwhile, the Nations League semi-finals are due to take place in June 2021 and it is expected that further talks will be held on whether that competition should go ahead.
The women’s Euro 2021 Championship is due to start in early July next year, and that might also have to be postponed for a year as would FIFA’s new Club World Cup involving 24 teams, including eight from Europe.
However, it is hoped this move move will provide clubs with enough flexibility to complete their competitions.
The chief executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association, Gordon Taylor, believes postponing Euro 2020 would be a ‘positive step’.
He also believes that England’s domestic leagues should be completed even if it means delaying the start of next season.
Taylor said: “If the Euros is postponed it gives some flexibility. Definitely the aim should be to complete the season otherwise it is unfair on those clubs who are close to promotion and to qualifying for Europe, not to mention winning the Premier League.
“Our first priority is the health of the players and their families, but once football returns then the season should be finished even if it means delaying the start of next season. There will be some contractual issues if players’ contracts end on June 31, but we can look at those together with the clubs.”
What is the Moose going to do without football? I’ll have to speak to the wife!
Meanwhile, chief executive of the European Leagues, Lars Christer Olsson, also said finishing club competitions had to be the priority.
He told The Times: “Everything depends on the direction of the Euros, the calendar matters have to be agreed first.
“The consequence [of postponing Euros] could mean that frees up time for club competitions — we have to be flexible.
“Our priorities are the ones connected to the domestic competitions. Our opinion is that the priority should be to finish the current seasons otherwise you don’t know who is going to play in European club competitions next season.
“It is important that the domestic competitions are given an opportunity to finish.
“Some countries are saying if you stop the competition in the middle you cannot have a winner and relegation and promotion. There may be a financial penalty if you do that as the number of matches is very important in media contracts.
“But if that does happen everybody has to make their contribution to the situation including rights holders.”
