Euro 2020 Postponed For A Year By Uefa Because Of Coronavirus Crisis

Portugal will remain the European champion for another year as Europe’s soccer governing body UEFA decided on Tuesday to move the tournament to 2021 because of the coronavirus outbreak and the unprecedented chaos the spread of the disease has caused in soccer.

The Norwegian FA was the first to confirm the news in a tweet. “Uefa has decided that the European Championship is postponed to 2021,” wrote the NFF on social media. “It will be played from 11 June to 11 July next year. More information coming.”

The Swedish FA’s president, Karl-Erik Nilsson, also confirmed the decision to Reuters.  Later on Tuesday, UEFA’s Executive Committee will ratify the decision. An official announcement will be communicated later.

UEFA held multiple teleconferences with all its 55 members, the boards of the European Club Association and the European Leagues, and a representative of world players’ union Fifpro to discuss proposals to postpone the second most important soccer tournament in the world and restructure the European calendar. For now, it remains uncertain when soccer will resume in Europe. 

The tournament had been scheduled to be played between June 12 and July 12 in 12 countries across Europe. Rome had been set to stage Euro 2020’s curtain raiser between Italy and Turkey. The design of the tournament, the brainchild of now disgraced former UEFA president Michel Platini, could not have been worse in a time of the global coronavirus crisis. 

UEFA’s decision will have a ripple effect. Next year, world federation FIFA planned to launch an expanded Club World Cup in China, but the future of that tournament, which also faced financing problems, could now well be in serious doubt. England is also set to host the women’s European Championship next summer. The tournament will also clash with the Nations League final and the u-21 European Championship.