A first in sixty years of existence and fifteen editions disputed to date. Due to the coronavirus epidemic plaguing the Old Continent, the European men's football championship should be postponed.
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) proposed, Tuesday, March 17 during a meeting with representatives of clubs and professional leagues, to postpone this competition by one year, originally scheduled from June 12 to July 12, year. The proposal has yet to be formally adopted by the Executive Committee of the European body, which meets in the afternoon.
- Why this postponement of a year?
The main national championships having been interrupted and the matches of the European Cups (Champions League and Europa League) having also been suspended, European football was faced with a question: how to make sure, at the same time, close these championships, complete the two European club competitions and compete in the Euro?
To postpone for one year this championship of European nations, which takes place every four years – it would be held in this case from June 11 to July 11, 2021, according to the Norwegian federation -, should give the possibility of seeing the championships nationals go to completion.
This is what most of the organizing leagues wanted, highlighting the fact that a non-recovery would weaken the clubs financially, which are highly dependent in particular on television rights.
Javier Tebas, president of La Liga, the Spanish championship, had thus estimated that 25% of the revenues from audiovisual rights would not be paid in the event of a permanent cessation: " " We have 25 % of the season to play and the whole budget will have to be reviewed, this is the damage that can occur if the competition is not over "
- What consequences for the European Cups?
Pushing back the Euro should also make it possible to complete the final stages of the Champions League and the Europa League without being blocked by the calendar.
On this point, the various meetings organized on Tuesday by UEFA have not, at this stage, provided details on the future calendar.
Champions League and Europa League remain frozen for the time being. These two competitions should resume as soon as the health situation allows.
- How much will this postponement of the Euro cost and who will pay?
A number of other questions remain unanswered. In particular who will pay for this postponement of the Euro? The bill is estimated at between 200 and 300 million euros (stadium rentals, hotel reservations already paid, etc.) and UEFA would not be prepared to pay it alone.
As priority, with this postponement, is given to clubs and their competitions, National Leagues could be asked to make their contributions.
According to the team, a working group will be set up on the economic consequences of the decisions taken.
- Won't there be a collision with other tests scheduled for 2021?
This one-year lag will nonetheless cause overlapping schedules.
The Women's Euro is scheduled to take place between July 7 and August 1, 2021 and the Men's Euro Under-21 is scheduled for June 2021. At this stage, no indication has been given. But one hypothesis is that these two competitions are themselves delayed by one year.
Above all, there will remain a big question mark: what to do with the Club World Cup in the summer of 2021, which FIFA has planned to organize in China?
- Isn't counting on a normal resumption and end of the championships a risky bet?
At this stage, nothing says that the health situation will have improved sufficiently. Asked about RMC and BFM TV on Tuesday, Professor Gilles Pialoux, head of the infectious and tropical diseases department at Tenon Hospital in Paris, said that organizing a football match before September "Seems difficult". "Until summer, it’s going to crash (the epidemic, N.D.L.R.), but not completely disappear, so there will be management. A whole bunch of civil security personnel, the police, the carers, are going to be exhausted, so I don't see how we could suddenly put 5,000 people back in a closed enclosure ”, said the specialist.
