By Timothy Ojo.
The European Football Association, UEFA, has postponed the flagship tournament for football in Europe. The 2020 UEFA tournament, which was supposed to begin on June 12, has been postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic.
The news was first confirmed on social media by the Norwegian FA. The postponement was to “help domestic competitions on hold due to the COVID-19 emergency, to be completed”.
UEFA said in a statement: “UEFA today announced the postponement of its flagship national team competition, 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.”
The decision comes after UEFA held video conference calls with its 55 member associations, the board of the European Club Association and the board of the European Leagues.
According to the World Health Organisation, Europe is now the epicentre of the pandemic, which originated in China.
UEFA president AleksanderCeferin admitted the decision to postpone Euro 2020 by 12 months would be grave for UEFA.
“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 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,” Ceferin said.
“There was a real spirit of co-operation, with everyone recognising that they had to sacrifice something in order to achieve the best result.
“It was important that, as the governing body of European football, UEFA led the process and made the biggest sacrifice.
“Moving EURO 2020 comes at a huge cost for UEFA but we will do our best to ensure that the vital funding for grassroots, women’s football and the development of the game in our 55 countries is not affected. Purpose over profit has been our guiding principle in taking this decision for the good of European football as a whole.”