Euro 2020 was gearing up to be the most extravagant season yet; for the first time, it was going to take place across 12 different countries. There was an unprecedented number of ticket requests, and everything seemed to be going well – until the COVID-19 became a pandemic. In the midst of a worldwide frenzy, as the coronavirus has traveled across the world, UEFA has begun to shift its stance on the Euro 2020.
Only a couple of weeks ago, representatives were adamant that the coronavirus would not impact the matches, and that the tournament’s schedule would be able to carry on as planned. However, as European cases of the virus- as well as the death toll- have skyrocketed, UEFA is starting to consider postponing the championship.
There will be four separate conference calls (via video) that the president of the UEFA, Aleksander Ceferin, will hold on Tuesday, March 17th. With the spread of the coronavirus, it makes sense that they want to hold a virtual meeting rather than a physical one. In fact, Dominique Blanc (the president of the Swiss Football Association) has tested positive for COVID-19 less than two weeks after attending a UEFA meeting. Holding video conference calls will enable to UEFA to communicate with many entities in a safe, efficient manner.
One of the video calls will be with the European Club Association (ECA). This organization is a body that represents 232 professional football clubs, and its headquarters is in Nyon, Switzerland. On March 13th, the ECA released a message to its members, stating that the organization’s priority is to stop the coronavirus from spreading – no matter what it takes.
Another call will be held with the European Leagues; this system represents over 900 clubs in 32 professional leagues across Europe. 29 European countries are represented by this organization. On March 13th, European Leagues gave a statement of their own: that day, they had held an emergency Board of Directors meeting. Due to the impact of the COVID-19, they will implement whatever measures are needed in order to reduce ints spread – including postponing competitions or playing without an audience. These methods will protect everybody involved in the games – fans, employees, media, and more. In their statement, they mentioned that they will be coordinating with the UEFA in their teleconference and that it is most essential to be cooperative and flexible.
The third call will be held with representatives of all 55 member associations – including Northern Ireland, Wales, England, and Scotland.
The final call will be held with UEFA’s Executive Committee. This committee, which includes UEFA vice-chairman David Gill, will be making the final decision as to whether or not Euro 2020 should be postponed.
There are six European FIFA council members who are also on the UEFA Executive Committee; these members will not be able to vote on the matter. For instance, one of those members is Greg Clark, who is both a chairman of the English Football Association and the vice president of FIFA.
The world player’s union, FIFPro (represented by Bobby Barnes), will hop on either the call with the European Club Association or European Leagues. The CEO of UEFA events, Martin Kallen, will be joining each call- as well as the UEFA deputy general secretary and director of football (Theodore Theodoridis and Giorgio Marchetti, respectively).
There has been much speculation regarding this turn of events, and the most likely outcome seems to be that Euro 2020 will be postponed for a year. This is a very disappointing situation; after all, this was the 60th anniversary of the Euro, and it was going to be a magnificent celebration. However, it is more important to prohibit the spread of this virus. In order to combat the coronavirus, UEFA has already suspended both the Europa League and the Champions League indefinitely.
