:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/66517445/1148667669.jpg.0.jpg)
European football governing body, UEFA has postponed Euro 2020 to make room for the completion of the 2019/20 campaign. The body indicated that national leagues and Cup competitions which are currently on hold will have a chance to continue beyond the usual timeframe as a result of the postponement of the Euros.
On Tuesday March 17, UEFA issued a resolution which aims to compel all domestic competitions to be completed by June 30. The body made this known in a statement after a video conference meeting with its member associations.
The statement read: “The resolution features a commitment to complete all domestic and European club competitions by the end of the current sporting season, i.e. 30 June 2020 at the latest, should the situation improve and resuming playing be appropriate and prudent enough.”
But this is not final, as the situation is still subject to progress made in stopping the spread of the coronavirus.
At the moment, all major European leagues are on hold as the world battles the pandemic. The Premier League is on break until April 3 at least. A meeting is scheduled for this Thursday to discuss further steps and the best course of action to be taken for the rest of the campaign. Several options are on the table including an outright cancellation of the season. But that will come with severe ramifications.
For now, only the German Bundesliga has such a proposal on the table. That would require the league to expand for one season from 18 to 22 teams with no relegation this year. But no concrete decision has been made on the matter yet.
Both the Champions League and Europa League finals are expected to be pushed back to the end of June 2020. Europe’s premier club competition is yet to complete the round of 16 with Manchester City set to face Real Madrid in the return leg. Getafe and Roma did not honour the first leg of their Europa League last 16 fixtures as a result of the traveling restrictions imposed between Spain and Italy.
Suffice to say that every decision made now concerning league and club football is still subject to change. Further decisions will be made as the situation unfolds. It’s health and safety first before any other considerations after all.