Huge news coming out of UEFA this afternoon.
According to reports in the French media this afternoon, the 2019/20 editions of the Champions League and Europa League will be suspended early next week, while the multi-city EURO 2020 tournament will be postponed until next year.
A statement from UEFA this afternoon reads as follows;
“UEFA has invited representations from the 55 member associations, together with the management of the European Association of European Clubs and Championships and a representative of FIFPro (players’ association) , to attend video conference meetings on Tuesday 17 March to discuss the response of European football to this event. The debates will cover all national and European competitions, including Euro 2020. “
French outfit L’Équipe are reporting however that UEFA will announce a provisional suspension of their flagship European club tournaments, which have already seen a number of ties played behind closed doors or postponed due to the spread of the Coronavirus across Europe.
The postponement of the EURO 2020 tournament for a year is to supposedly allow for a rescheduling of the club tournaments, but also considering the fact that there are still four places yet to be filled through the qualifier route for the tournament. That includes Mick McCarthy’s Irish side, who are due to face Slovakia in two weeks time. That game has already been declared to be played behind closed doors, but there have been reports in the Slovakian media this afternoon that their FA has requested the game be postponed in light of the current situation.
There is already domestic chaos throughout European football, with Serie A, Ligue 1 and La Liga games already confirmed to be suspended for a two-week period, while there is also some doubt over whether Premier League fixtures will be played behind closed doors or postponed this weekend.
