UEFA Euro 2020 has been postponed for a year as the world fights to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, the Norwegian and Swedish soccer associations said yesterday.
“Postponed until 11/6-11/7 2021. Will get back to you after the meeting,” Swedish Football Association chairman Karl-Erik Nilsson said in a message to Reuters during a UEFA videoconference call.
The Norwegian Football Association also tweeted the news from its Twitter account.
UEFA, which was yet to confirm the decision, was under pressure to push back the tournament to give suspended domestic leagues time to be completed.
European soccer’s governing body was holding a video conference with all 55 of its affiliated national federations, as well as representatives of clubs, leagues and players.
The decision was to go before the UEFA executive committee to be rubber-stamped later yesterday.
It is the first time in the competition’s history that the finals have been postponed.
CANCELED BOOKINGS
News of the postponement broke after Reuters had earlier learned that UEFA had canceled its hotel bookings in Copenhagen, one of the host cities for the championships that had been scheduled to be held from June 12 to July 12 this year.
The CPH Hotel told Reuters by telephone that UEFA had booked 80 of its 102 rooms, but canceled them a little over a week ago.
The Marienlyst Strandhotel, where the Denmark squad is usually based, told Reuters in an e-mail that UEFA had also canceled the rooms booked on behalf of the national team.
The decision to put back the 24-team tournament follows soccer, like numerous other sports, being brought to a virtual standstill by the coronavirus outbreak.
All five of Europe’s top domestic soccer leagues — England, Spain, Italy, France and Germany — have been suspended, along with the UEFA Champions League and Europa League, as well as FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
DOMESTIC WOES
The leagues have urged UEFA to prioritize completing domestic competitions, reflecting a concern that clubs throughout Europe would lose significant ticket and associated match-day revenue by not completing the season while still having to pay their players’ salaries.
Canceled seasons would also risk significant compensation claims from rights-holding TV broadcasters.
The European championships are usually held in one or two host nations, but the Euro 2020 tournament was spread around Europe in what organizers said was a “romantic one-off” event.
The host cities are Amsterdam; Baku; Bilbao, Spain; Bucharest; Budapest; Copenhagen; Dublin; Glasgow, Scotland; London; Munich, Germany; Rome; and St Petersburg, Russia.
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