The shadow of the coronavirus hangs over European football

A man wearing a protective mask in front of a Euro 2020 poster in St. Petersburg, one of the twelve host cities. Anton Vaganov / REUTERS

The noose is tightening on European football. Faced with the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic on the continent, measures have so far been at everyone's discretion. Thus, some championships had opted for closed matches (the 29e Ligue 1 day is currently maintained in this device this weekend) and others, like Serie A and La Liga, the Italian and Spanish championships, had chosen a provisional suspension. Now the threat of a complete halt to football competitions is gaining ground.

On Thursday 12 March, UEFA announced that it will hold a meeting next week to discuss the fate of all football competitions: "UEFA has invited representations from the 55 member associations, with the management of the European Association of European Clubs and Championships and a representative of FIFPro (the global union of professional players), to attend meetings by videoconference on Tuesday 17 March to discuss the response of European football to the pandemic. The debates will concern all national and European competitions, including Euro 2020. "

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" Crisis situation "

According to newspaper information The team, the highest body of European football is expected to announce the suspension of the Champions League and the Europa League, as well as the postponement to 2021 of the Euro, which was to take place from 12 June to 12 July. According to the AP agency, a vote would be organized at this meeting.

Joined by The world On Thursday 12 March, a senior UEFA official tempered: "During this meeting, we want to listen to everyone's positions, discuss various scenarios and study the impact of this crisis. Because it is a crisis situation. We are not speculating on a postponement of the Euro. No decision will be made long term before Tuesday and we will not decide alone. "

Other sources do not hide their pessimism and indeed evoke a postponement of the competition or at least an organization in a small group of countries (the Euro must take place in 12 cities in 12 countries). This is the question of the busy calendar of continental football that arises. As things stand, and if the national and European club competitions are temporarily stopped, it is difficult to see how the season could go to an end before the start of the European Nations Championship in mid-June.

“We have to find an agreement that works for everyone. There is a problem of dates, calendar for the Champions League, national leagues … youth competitions, confirms this senior UEFA official. Regarding the Euro, one does not have to wonder which are the organizing countries most at risk. We want to put everyone around the table because we receive calls from everywhere, some clubs have put their players in quarantine … This crisis has an impact on everyone in terms of calendar. "

President of the Romanian Football Federation, Razvan Burleanu is directly concerned since Bucharest is to host four Euro 2020 games, including one 8e final. His federation decided Thursday to suspend all national competitions on its soil until March 31. If he indicates that he has not yet had discussions with UEFA regarding the organization of the European championship, he faces other more urgent concerns:

"We have a question concerning the dams (4 tickets are still to be taken). We have to play on March 26 in Iceland, before, if successful, go to Sofia or Budapest on March 31. We have warned UEFA that the most important thing is the health of our players. We will not travel in the event of excessive health risks, he explains to World. At the moment, we would not have the most competitive team since some of our players from abroad could not join us: our goalkeeper Ciprian Tatarusanu who plays in Lyon, four players, including our captain, who are playing in Italy and another which is in New York City. "

"Reconsider all the risks"

Other barrage nations are facing the same situation. Bosnia asked in a press release to postpone its March 26 match against Northern Ireland: “Some of our players could not participate in the play-off match. The Federation again calls on UEFA to reconsider all the risks that may arise in the event of a match. "

Last uncertainties, the 8e the Champions League final (Juventus Turin-Lyon and Manchester City-Real Madrid), scheduled for Tuesday, March 17, have also just been postponed. The announcement on Wednesday of a Turin player's coronavirus positive test (Daniele Rugani) and the quarantine decreed by Real Madrid and Juve got the better of the UEFA delays.

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