What You Need to Know About Euro 2020 and the Coronavirus

Last week, the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) was confident that the opening of Euro 2020 would not be impacted by the coronavirus; however, now the organization is changing its tune. The UEFA will be holding a crisis meeting on March 17th, in which members of the organization will discuss whether the Euro 2020 will be able to continue amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

How Has the Situation Changed?

Early last week, UEFA had released a statement that they expected the Euro’s playoff games and the main tournament to go off without a hitch. In this statement, they gave an assurance that they have been in communication with the WHO (World Health Organization), as well as with the national governments who are involved in Euro 2020. At the time, Alexey Sorokin (the head of the UEFA’s organizing committee, as well as an executive committee member), believed that the situation was stable, and he declared that he could not sense any panic about the issue.

Interestingly enough, the UEFA had already placed a travel ban on its staff – despite their claims that there is no reason to change Euro 2020 plans.

So, what caused the UEFA to backtrack? Well, on Wednesday night, there was breaking news that Daniele Rugani (a player for Juventus) tested positive for the coronavirus; furthermore, news broke that Real Madrid’s players had been quarantined when a team member had also tested positive. This may cause next week’s Champions League Matches to be suspended, so, naturally, UEFA began to reconsider their stance on Euro 2020.

On Thursday, UEFA declared that it will be holding a crisis meeting next Tuesday. What we know about the meeting so far is that it will be via video conference, all 55 European football federations will attend, and additional representatives of players, clubs, and leagues will be present. During the meeting, they will discuss the fate of the Euro 2020, as well as other domestic and international competitions. Hopefully, during this meeting, they will decide on whether Euro 2020 will be postponed or if it will carry on as usual. 

The Potential Dangers of Continuing on With Euro 2020

It is understandable why the UEFA is so reluctant to postpone the Euro 2020; after all, it is the 60th anniversary of the championship. This is supposed to be a landmark tournament, which is further emphasized by the record numbers of ticket requests. 

There were a whopping 28.3 million ticket requests, while only 2.5 million tickets were actually available. Furthermore, the UEFA had planned on hosting the championship in 12 different countries – as opposed to the usual singular host country. According to Michel Platini, the former president of the UEFA, this was supposed to be a “romantic” way to celebrate the Euro’s 60th birthday. 

It is obvious that a lot of painstaking planning had gone into Euro 2020, but UEFA can simply no longer afford to ignore the growing threat of the coronavirus. Many factors point to the necessity of postponing the championship: rising death tolls, Italy’s quarantine, flight cancellations, the WHO’s pandemic announcement, and more. 

A public gathering like the Euro 2020 will almost certainly end up spreading the COVID-19. The WHO recommends avoiding public gatherings, maintaining social distance, and making sure the people around you are practicing good hygienic practices. These recommendations are simply incompatible with a championship of the Euro’s magnitude. 

Unfortunately, the Euro 2020 ticketing terms stipulate that all sales are final and cannot be refunded or sold to third parties. If you are feeling worried about the coronavirus and decide that you won’t attend the event, the current policy would unfortunately not allow you to get your money back. However, it’s possible that UEFA would receive global backlash from its policy and end up making exceptions. 

If the event isn’t postponed and you would still like to attend, here is what you can do to reduce your risk of catching or spreading the COVID-19: 

• Avoid touching your face: We use our hands to touch an incredible amount of surfaces on any given day. Once your hands are contaminated, you can transfer the virus to your nose, mouth, or eyes through rubbing and itching. When the virus enters those areas, it can move deeper into your body and cause you to get sick. So, keep your hands off of your face! If you are having a difficult time doing that, try wearing fuzzy gloves. Feeling the unusual texture of the gloves may remind you that touching your face is off-limits.
• Clean your hands frequently: You have two options here; you can wash your hands with soap and water, or you can use a hand sanitizer that is alcohol-based. Given the magnitude of the Euro 2020, it may be difficult to get access to soap and water as regularly as you would like. People may be standing in line for a long time in order to wash their hands. So, it would be wise to make sure you have a supply of hand sanitizer with you at all times. Furthermore, you can offer it to the people who are near you, in case they don’t have any. Perhaps it could seem a little rude, but that is a much better option than potentially spreading around the coronavirus.
• Use hygienic respiratory measures: Of course, you can’t control what the people around you do, but at least you can choose what to do with your own body. If you feel a sneeze or a cough coming on, make sure to either cover both your nose and mouth with a bent elbow – or, if you have one, use a tissue instead. If you end up using a tissue, dispose of it immediately afterward. Salivary droplets are how the virus is spread, so you want to make sure not to let it come in contact with other people.

The WHO also recommends maintaining distance as a measure to reduce your chance of catching or spreading the virus; however, this would not be possible because people sit very close together in stadiums.

If you find yourself displaying symptoms of the coronavirus prior to Euro 2020, do not attend! It is better to wait and see if the UEFA will update their cancellation and refund policy, rather than going anyway and risk infecting many people. 

What Happens if UEFA Postpones Euro 2020?

The UEFA has not yet released any details on how they would handle the postponement process; we will probably have to wait until after the crisis meeting to receive the specifics. However, according to BBC News, you are generally entitled to a refund if the official seller has canceled the event. However, postage and booking fees may not be included in the reimbursement. Similarly, if the official seller has postponed the event and you can’t attend the new date, you will likely receive a refund. 

On the other hand, if you purchased your ticket from a ticket-reselling website, it may be a little trickier to receive a refund. You will have to check the individual website’s terms and conditions in order to see if you will be eligible for reimbursement. 

If you end up being refused a refund, but you purchased the ticket with a credit card, try calling your credit card company. You might be entitled to a refund if you didn’t receive the product or service that you paid for. 

Are There Any Alternate Scenarios?

If the UEFA decides to move on with Euro 2020 as planned, take the decision with a grain of salt. National governments have the power to cancel events in their country if they believe the crowds would pose a risk to public health. It’s entirely possible that the governments of countries participating in the Euro 2020 would disagree with the UEFA’s decision. 

Another possible scenario is that the UEFA goes on as scheduled, but your hotel closes down. In that case, you may have some more difficulty receiving a refund for the event; it is typically up to the goodwill of the organizer, and not so likely with such a massive event. Instead, you should turn to your travel insurance; check the small print, and see if a hotel cancellation allows you to receive reimbursement for related events. 

Regardless of how you think the situation will turn out, it would be wise to refrain from making any decisions until the results of Tuesday’s crisis meeting have been announced.