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Yesterday, reports claimed UEFA were resisting moving this summer’s Euro 2020 tournament to 2021 to give leagues the space they needed to conclude the current season once coronavirus had been contained.
Today, UEFA appear to have accepted the inevitable, and have decided to push the competition back by one year, in the latest example of the rapidly changing situation currently confronting the sport—and the world.
The decision would appear to signal that there is now widespread agreement amongst Europe’s football governing bodies that the priority should be on finding a way to conclude the currently suspended seasons.
Elsewhere, CONMEBOL have today decided to delay the 2020 edition of Copa America until next summer, removing the potential conflict for South American players at European clubs when the games start up again.
However, with loans and player contracts expiring at the end of June, the summer tournaments may not be the only legal and logistical hurdles to restarting the 2019-20 league seasons across Europe.
And while it’s a step towards solving this year’s scheduling problems, there will now be new ones to solve with both FIFA’s Club World Championship and the Women’s Euros scheduled for summer of 2021.