Is Euro 2020’s Official Name Going to Change?

The COVID-19 outbreak is causing delays and cancellations of public events around the world. Authorities foster social distancing by prohibiting large gatherings. Due to such measures, the Euro 2020 Championship is experiencing a postponement until June next year.

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Even with the news of Euro 2020 happening one year later, there have been no updates on whether the tournament will be officially changing its name to Euro 2021.

According to the latest information published by UEFA, the new dates of the event will be almost exactly one year later than the original schedule. Thus, the championship will begin on June 11, 2021, with the finals on July 11.

Such a drastic postponement has significantly influenced everyone involved in the making of the event, from the hosting countries and teams to fans and betting companies. Even though it is still a while before the championship, discussions about its details are going on non-stop. One of the hot topics is: will UEFA decide to change Euro 2020’s name to Euro 2021?

Is UEFA Changing the Name of Euro 2020?

Even though UEFA made the decision to postpone the tournament until summer next year back in March, the organization still has to announce what its official name will be.

This topic is evoking an even more considerable amount of discussions, due to UEFA’s Twitter account. At first, a tweet appeared stating that the organization confirmed that the tournament’s name would remain unchanged regardless of the 12-month delay.

A few moments later, however, UEFA deleted the tweet and apologized for the false information. The new tweet stated that there is still no clear decision on what the name of the championship will be.

Challenges of Renaming Euro 2020

There have been questions about why UEFA’s decision on the naming of the Euro event is taking so long. One of the possible reasons is that even a one-digit change in the name will launch significant expenses on the marketing side.

Another possible challenge concerns the idea of integrity. The Euro Championship in 2020 was going to cover the territories of 12 countries, celebrating 60 years from the first European Football tournament. Notably, the first Euro Championship, known as the European Nations’ Cup, took place in France in 1960 and only lasted for four days.

Thus, although UEFA has to postpone Euro 2020 due to reasons that are out of control, there is still a chance that the tournament’s name will remain unchanged, as a tribute to the 60-year-old history of the Euro Championship.

Besides, UEFA may have yet another concern about renaming the tournament. If the name of the Euro 2020 changes, it may somewhat undermine the female version of the tournament. The UEFA Women’s Euro 2021, the 13th edition of the event, will be undergoing changes due to the pandemic as well.

The situation with the Women’s Championship also currently remains unclear, as UEFA has not yet announced the official decision on its new scheduling. However, according to preliminary information published by the Danish FA, it will have to move its dates to summer 2022.