Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures: For the first time in the history of the European Football Association, the European Championship is being postponed. The 16th edition of the European Championship, which should have taken place in twelve countries and cities across Europe this year, is the next sporting event that cannot take place as planned due to the rampant corona virus.
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
Ultimately, the cancellation for this year was just an inevitable step. More and more leagues had recently stopped operating. The resulting consequences of the national players’ lack of training and match practice, the rescheduling of postponed match days until the opening game on June 12, and ultimately the health risks to all players involved left the responsible parties with no other option than to postpone the European Championship.
On Tuesday, the national leagues and the European Club Association ECA approved Uefa’s proposal to postpone the Euro 2020, as reported by ZDF. In a further video conference, the 55 Uefa member associations had to approve the relocation due to the coronavirus pandemic before the Uefa Executive Committee could make the final decision. The pan-European tournament was originally scheduled to take place this summer from June 12th to July 12th.
The European Championship opening game was scheduled for June 12 in Rome. Italy is the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in Europe. Due to the rapid spread of the lung disease Covid-19, the Italian government had imposed nationwide blocking measures on March 9, and the World Health Organization classified the spread of Sars-CoV-2 as a pandemic on March 11. Six days later, Uefa reacted.
The date has been set
The extent to which Uefa wants to and can organize the historic final round next year under the same conditions remained initially open. The date is clear: the game is to be played from June 11 to July 11, 2021.
By moving to the summer of 2021, Uefa had to come to an arrangement with the FIFA world association, which at the time actually wanted to celebrate the premiere of the multi-million dollar World Cup. This tournament was last increased to 24 teams, originally eight of them were supposed to come from Europe. In return, the Uefa may be sending more clubs in return for relocating the Club World Cup.
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(erh / dpa)
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