Euro 2020 Officially Announces Postponement Due To Coronavirus Crisis
Mar 17, 2020, 11:24 AM
General view of UEFA Euro 2020 Christmas Lights in host city Bucharest on November 29, 2019 in Bucharest, Romania. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
(Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – It was meant to be one of the biggest sporting events of the year, the UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifying Tournament is a soccer competition that determines the 24 UEFA member men’s national teams that will advance to UEFA Euro final tournament.
It was expected to be held from March of 2019 to June of 2020, however, due to the global Coronavirus outbreak, UEFA has decided to suspend the tournament for a year. It will now take place in 2021.
The tournament is the second biggest soccer tournament in the world, slightly behind the FIFA World Cup, the 2012 and 2016 Euro Final saw global audiences of 300 and 284 million people. One of the many reasons behind the attraction comes because of the FIFA World Cup qualifying aspect.
UEFA today announced the postponement of UEFA EURO 2020.
A working group has been set up with the participation of leagues and club representatives to examine calendar solutions that would allow for the completion of the current season…
Full statement: 👇
— UEFA (@UEFA) March 17, 2020
In a statement by EUFA, President Aleksander Čeferin said “we are at the helm of a sport that vast numbers of people live and breathe that has been laid low by this invisible and fast-moving opponent. It is at times like these that the football community needs to show responsibility, unity, solidarity and altruism.”
“The health of fans, staff and players has to be our number one priority and, in that spirit, UEFA tabled a range of options so that competitions can finish this season safely and I am proud of the response of my colleagues across European football. There was a real spirit of cooperation, with everyone recognising that they had to sacrifice something in order to achieve the best result.
“It was important that, as the governing body of European football, UEFA led the process and made the biggest sacrifice. Moving EURO 2020 comes at a huge cost for UEFA but we will do our best to ensure that the vital funding for grassroots, women’s football and the development of the game in our 55 countries is not affected. Purpose over profit has been our guiding principle in taking this decision for the good of European football as a whole.”
Updates on the future of all UEFA competitions will be made available over the coming weeks.
