UEFA is under pressure to act because of the corona pandemic. What will happen to the Champions League, the Europa League and the European Championship?
The corona pandemic is currently forcing UEFA to issue a press release almost daily.
The European football association is constantly having to announce match cancellations or ghost matches, but there is no uniform line on how to deal with the spread of the corona virus in European competitions. This is to change on Tuesday.
UEFA has invited representatives of the 55 member associations to attend an extraordinary meeting on 17 March. “The debates will focus on all national and European competitions, including EURO 2020,” the association said in a statement on Thursday.
It is expected that UEFA will decide to suspend the Champions League and Europa League at the crisis summit. A postponement of the upcoming European Championship (12 June to 12 July) by one year also appears to be a realistic scenario.
UEFA considers final tournament in the Champions League
One advantage of this would be that next summer the European competitions as well as the national leagues could be ended, which are in dire straits due to match cancellations. However, in order to ensure that the European Championship is postponed, UEFA must negotiate with FIFA, which is planning a brand new club World Cup in summer 2021 – spitefully in China.
According to information from L’Équipe, UEFA plans to continue the Champions League and Europa League after a few weeks’ break. President Aleksander Ceferin is expected to argue for the quarter-finals and semi-finals to be played in only one match at a neutral venue.
It should also be considered to host a final four from the semi-final onwards. The four teams could then play the title at the same place where the final is to be played.
In the Champions League this would be Istanbul this season, in the Europa League Gdansk. Even a Final Eight at one of these venues from the quarter-finals onwards is considered an option.