Friday , March 29 2024

COVID-19: latest updates on UEFA competitions!

Ahead of this week’s two-day UEFA Executive Committee videoconference meeting (June 17/18), here’s an overview of all decisions taken to date by European football’s governing body in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

23 April: Executive Committee approves guidelines on eligibility for participation in UEFA competitions

The UEFA Executive Committee met today via videoconference. It received updates on the Working Groups established in partnership with the European Club Association (ECA), European Leagues (EL) and FIFPRO Europe. Of the two scenarios being examined by the Calendar Working Group, both envisage domestic football starting before UEFA club competitions, with one seeking to run the competitions in parallel and the other to complete domestic matches before re-starting UEFA matches in August.

The Committee heard of the work of the newly-established Medical sub group, chaired by Professor Tim Meyer, examining the health issues surrounding a return to football, which is working alongside the ECA and EL to link the work already being done by leagues and clubs to produce a set of guidelines which will align with the best health protocols available. The Committee valued the unity shown across European football and the emphasis being placed on prioritising health in trying to establish a path to football’s return.

As a result of representations made by the football authorities in Belgium and Scotland, the Committee recognises the issues raised and approved the Guidelines on eligibility principles for 2020/21 UEFA club competitions. The Guidelines reflect the principle that admission to UEFA club competitions is always based on sporting merit.

Therefore, UEFA urges National Associations and Leagues to explore all possible options to play all top domestic competitions giving access to UEFA club competitions to their natural conclusion. However, UEFA stresses that the health of players, spectators and all those involved in football as well as the public at large must remain the primary concern at this time.

The ideal scenario, should the pandemic situation permit it, is to have the currently suspended domestic competitions completed enabling football clubs to qualify for UEFA club competitions on sporting merit in their original format. Should this outcome not be possible, in particular due to calendar issues, it would be preferable that suspended domestic competitions would restart with a different format in a manner which would still facilitate clubs to qualify on sporting merit.

While using best efforts to complete the domestic competitions, National Associations and/or Leagues might have legitimate reasons to prematurely terminate their domestic competitions, in particular in the following cases:

• existence of an official order prohibiting sports events so that the domestic competitions cannot be completed before a date that would make it possible to complete the current season in good time before the next season to start.

• insurmountable economic problems which make finishing the season impossible because it would put at risk the long-term financial stability of the domestic competition and/or clubs.

If a domestic competition is prematurely terminated for legitimate reasons in accordance with the above conditions, UEFA would require the National Association concerned to select clubs for the UEFA club competitions 2020/21 based on sporting merit in the 2019/20 domestic competitions:

• the procedure for selecting clubs should be based on objective, transparent and non-discriminatory principles. National Associations and Leagues, should otherwise have the ability to decide the final positions in their domestic competitions, having regard to the specific circumstances of each competition;

• the final determination of eligible places for the UEFA club competitions should be confirmed by the relevant competent bodies at domestic level.

UEFA reserves the right to refuse or evaluate the admission to any club proposed by a National Association from a prematurely terminated domestic competition in particular where:

• the domestic competitions have not been prematurely terminated based on the reasons given in these UEFA guidelines or on the basis of any other legitimate public health reasons;

• the clubs were selected pursuant to a procedure which was not objective, transparent and non-discriminatory so that the selected clubs could not be considered as having been qualified on sporting merit;

• there is a public perception of unfairness in the qualification of the club.

UEFA EURO 2020

Following the postponement of UEFA EURO 2020 to the summer of 2021 and after a thorough internal review as well as several discussions with partners, the Executive Committee has decided that the tournament will still be known as UEFA EURO 2020.

This decision allows UEFA to keep the original vision of the tournament to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the European Football Championships (1960 – 2020).

It will furthermore serve to remember how the whole football family came together to respond to the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and the difficult times Europe, and the world, had to go through in 2020.

This choice is in line with UEFA’s commitment to make UEFA EURO 2020 sustainable and not to generate additional amounts of waste. A lot of branded material had already been produced by the time of the tournament’s postponement. A change to the name of the event would have meant the destruction and reproduction of such items.

UEFA European Under-21 Championship

The Committee heard that options for rearrangement or postponement of the tournament will be presented and analysed by the National Team Competitions Committee on 11 May, with a final decision being taken at the Executive Committee on 27 May 2020.

The next meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee is scheduled for 27 May 2020.

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23 April: UEFA Women’s EURO to take centre stage in summer 2022

The UEFA Executive Committee has confirmed that the postponed UEFA Women’s EURO 2021 will be played in England from 6 to 31 July 2022. It is planned to use the same venues that were originally proposed to host the event.

Commenting on the rescheduling, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said: “When we had to take an urgent decision on the postponement of UEFA EURO 2020, we always had the impact on UEFA Women’s EURO 2021 in mind. We have carefully considered all options, with our commitment to the growth of women’s football at the forefront of our thinking. By moving UEFA Women’s EURO to the following year, we are ensuring that our flagship women’s competition will be the only major football tournament of the summer, providing it with the spotlight it deserves.”

The decision to move UEFA Women’s EURO came after UEFA announced on 17 March that UEFA EURO 2020 would be postponed to 2021 following the global outbreak of COVID-19 and the duty of UEFA to protect the health of all those involved in the game, while allowing domestic leagues and European competitions to be completed. The extensive discussions leading to the move included talks with organisers of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, with whom UEFA and the English Football Association (FA) continue to work with collaboratively to ensure that 2022 provides a memorable summer of elite sport.

UEFA’s chief of women’s football, Nadine Kessler, said: “The core question guiding us together with the English FA was: What is best for women’s football? With the Olympics now being confirmed for summer 2021, we firmly believe that moving to 2022 is in the best interests of the tournament, the players, the fans, women’s football partners and everybody involved in all areas and at all levels of the game. UEFA Women’s EURO is Europe’s biggest women’s sport event. It is also among the biggest sports events in the world, and therefore needs and deserves a platform of its own.

“This decision puts us in a position to deliver a tournament that attracts global attention, maximises media coverage and increases stadium attendances, and is therefore helping us to meet our core objective of inspiring the next generation of footballers.

“2022 also allows for further promotion and partner activation, which would have been much more difficult in what is now a crowded summer in 2021. It is a clear sign of commitment to our dedicated partners who have joined us since we decided to separate the sponsorship of women’s football from men’s football.”

The English FA’s director of women’s football, Baroness Sue Campbell, said: “As a nation and at The FA, we are extremely proud to be hosting UEFA Women’s EURO 2021, and are fully committed to delivering a world-class experience for players, staff and fans alike as the best of the European game comes to England.

“However, the sporting calendar must adapt while the world tackles something much bigger than sport. In these unprecedented times, it should be reiterated that the health of our communities remains the absolute priority for us all.

“As a result, following discussions with UEFA, we fully support its decision to postpone UEFA Women’s EURO 2021. We agree that this decision will ultimately benefit the tournament, creating its own window in the football calendar. It will also allow us all more time following this challenging period to deliver an unforgettable event befitting of a home EURO.

“We have made excellent progress in the planning of the tournament to date, and particularly want to thank our host cities and venues for their ongoing commitment and support. We are also grateful to the Commonwealth Games Federation for its collaboration as we sought to confirm these new dates, and look forward to working together to showcase the best of women’s sport across both of our events.

“We will continue our dialogues with cities, venues and our partners over the coming months as we work towards delivering a record-breaking UEFA Women’s EURO on home soil in 2022. We are confident that it will be worth the wait.”

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin added: “I would also like to thank The Football Association, the local organising committee and our member associations, who are as convinced as we are that the postponement to 2022 will be to the benefit of women’s football at large. The football family has once again shown unity, and we are now not only in a position to look forward to a European summer of football in 2021, but in 2022 as well. We are grateful for the cooperation of FIFA and the Commonwealth Games Federation in arriving at these dates.”

Further details, including potential amendments to the match calendar or the name of the tournament, will be announced in due course.

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16 April: UEFA Executive Committee to meet next week

The UEFA Executive Committee will meet via videoconference next Thursday 23 April for an update meeting to discuss the latest developments regarding the impact caused by the coronavirus outbreak on European football.

This meeting will follow an information session for the General Secretaries of UEFA’s 55 member associations on Tuesday 21 April.

The meetings will look at developments across both domestic and European competitions.

Further communication will be made, if necessary, following the meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee.

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1 April: UEFA postpones all June national team matches

Following today’s video conference meeting with the general secretaries of all 55 UEFA member associations and recommendations made by the working groups created on 17 March, the UEFA Executive Committee took a series of decisions.

On competition matters:

  • All national team matches for men and women due to be played in June 2020 are postponed until further notice. This includes the play-off matches for UEFA EURO 2020 and qualifying matches for UEFA Women’s EURO 2021
  • All other UEFA competition matches, including the centralised international friendly matches, remain postponed until further notice.
  • Youth national team competitions:
    (i) the UEFA European Under-17 Championship final tournament scheduled for May 2020 is cancelled;
    (ii) the UEFA European Women’s Under-19 Championship final tournament scheduled for July 2020 is cancelled;
    (iii) the UEFA European Women’s Under-17 Championship final tournament scheduled for May 2020 is postponed until further notice (as it is a qualifying competition for the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup);
    (iv) the UEFA European Under-19 Championship final tournament scheduled for July 2020 is postponed until further notice (as it is a qualifying competition for the FIFA U-20 World Cup)
  • The UEFA Futsal Champions League finals scheduled for April 2020 are postponed until further notice.
  • The deadlines related to all 2020/21 UEFA club competitions are postponed until further notice, in particular as regards the admission process and the registration of players. UEFA will set new deadlines in due course.

On club licensing and financial fair play matters:

The Executive Committee reiterated its full commitment to club licensing and Financial Fair Play and agreed that the current exceptional circumstances necessitate some specific interventions to facilitate the work of member associations and clubs.

It supports the proposal to give member associations more time to complete the club licensing process, until the admission process for next season’s UEFA club competitions has been redefined.

As a result of the increasing uncertainty generated by the ongoing extraordinary events, the Executive Committee also decided to suspend the club licensing provisions that relate to the preparation and assessment of clubs’ future financial information. This decision applies exclusively for participation in the 2020/21 UEFA club competitions.

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30 March: UEFA to meet General Secretaries of National Associations

UEFA has invited the general secretaries of its 55 members associations to a videoconference on Wednesday 1 April at midday to share an update on the progress made by the two working groups that were created two weeks ago and to discuss options identified with regards to the potential rescheduling of matches.

The meeting will look at developments across all UEFA national team and club competitions, as well as discussing progress at FIFA and European level on matters such as player contracts and the transfer system.

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23 March: UEFA club finals postponed

As a result of the COVID-19 crisis in Europe, UEFA has today formally taken the decision to postpone the following matches, originally scheduled for May 2020:

UEFA Women’s Champions League Final
UEFA Europa League Final
UEFA Champions League Final

No decision has yet been made on rearranged dates. The working group, established last week as a result of the conference call among the stakeholders of European football, which was chaired by UEFA President, Aleksander Ceferin, will analyse the options available. The group has already begun its examination of the calendar. Announcements will be made in due course.

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20 March: Postponement of UEFA futsal competitions

In light of developments due to the spread of COVID-19 in Europe and the related travelling restrictions imposed by governments, a number of futsal tournaments and upcoming events have been postponed until further notice.

All seven UEFA Futsal EURO 2022 qualifying round play-off ties have been postponed to a later date comprised tentatively between June and mid-December. The qualifying group stage draw (scheduled for 14 May) is postponed to 7 July.

Both 2020 FIFA Futsal World Cup play-off ties have been postponed to a later date, tentatively between June and mid-August.All UEFA Women’s Futsal EURO 2021 preliminary round mini-tournaments have been postponed to a later date, comprised tentatively between June and September.

Information regarding the postponement of the 2019/20 UEFA Futsal Champions League finals was published earlier this week.

Further information about the rescheduling of these competitions/matches will be given in due course.

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17 March: Resolution of the European football family on a coordinated response to the impact of the COVID-19 on competitions
UEFA, the European Club Association, European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe sign a resolution on how European football should react to the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. UEFA convened today an urgent meeting via videoconference with representatives of the European Club Association (“ECA”), European Leagues (“EL”) and FIFPRO Europe (altogether referred to as “the Parties”) to reflect, as a group, on the unique set of circumstances European football is facing as a result of the ongoing global health crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic and discuss sensible solutions for the European football family to cope with this unsettling, challenging and unprecedented situation.

2. As representatives of the major professional football organisations at European level, the Parties consider it is their duty to take a responsible lead in developing a united European approach in response to the global pandemic which has led to the suspension of the vast majority of competitions on the continent.

3. With this in mind, and while reiterating their fundamental commitment to protecting the health, safety, and well-being of players, clubs, supporters, officials, staff and the broader football community, the Parties discussed and unanimously agreed on the principles of a contingency plan regarding the 2019-20 sporting season.

4. These principles include the following:

• National team competitions:

  • The play-off qualifying matches of the UEFA EURO 2020 scheduled to be played in March 2020 will be postponed until the international windows of June 2020, subject to a review of the situation.
  • The final tournament of the UEFA EURO 2020, which was set to take place from 12 June to 12 July 2020, will be postponed to 11 June to 11 July 2021. This will help to ensure that the UEFA EURO 2020 can be a great celebration of football for all the supporters across the continent.
  • European qualifiers matchdays 3 and 4 currently scheduled to take place in June 2021 will be re-scheduled.
  • The UEFA Nations League Finals, the final tournament of the UEFA U21 EURO and the UEFA Women’s EURO all scheduled between June and July 2021 will be re-scheduled accordingly.
  • Clubs will release players to national teams for all rescheduled tournaments.

• Club competitions:

  • A commitment to complete all domestic and European club competitions by the end of the current sporting season, i.e. 30 June 2020 at the latest, should the situation improve and resuming playing be appropriate and prudent enough.
  • Possible limitations or drops of current exclusive calendar slots, potentially resulting in the scheduling of domestic league matches in mid-week and scheduling of UEFA club competitions matches on weekends.
  • Possible adaptations of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds in case of late completion of the 2019/20 sporting season, i.e. after 30 June 2020.

• Working groups:

  • A working group composed of representatives from UEFA, leagues and clubs will be immediately established to examine relevant calendar matters and devise solutions allowing for the resumption and/or conclusion of the current season in a coherent manner.
  • A second working group composed of representatives from UEFA, leagues, clubs and players will be set-up at a later stage to assess the economic, financial and regulatory impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and propose measures to help mitigate the consequences of the pandemic.

5. The Parties are convinced that this contingency plan is the best course of action at this moment in time. It takes into consideration the advice of international health experts as well as the restrictive orders issued by national governments and local authorities. It also allows for flexibility, as events warrant, with the hope of resuming play in front of football fans everywhere across the European territory as soon as it is appropriate and prudent, so that the current sporting season can be completed.

6. The Parties will continue to closely monitor the situation on a daily basis and, in the meantime, encourage the broader football community to take all reasonable precautions.

7. Finally, the Parties wish to stress that their thoughts are with all individuals and communities that have been impacted by the COVID-19.

Aleksander Ceferin, UEFA President
Andrea Agnelli ECA, Chairman
Lars-Christer Olsson, EL President
Bobby Barnes, FIFPRO Europe President

The resolution, signed by the relevant parties can be viewed here.

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17 March: UEFA postpones EURO 2020 by 12 months

UEFA today announced the postponement of its flagship national team competition, UEFA EURO 2020, due to be played in June and July this year. The health of all those involved in the game is the priority, as well as to avoid placing any unnecessary pressure on national public services involved in staging matches. The move will help all domestic competitions, currently on hold due to the COVID-19 emergency, to be completed.

All UEFA competitions and matches (including friendlies) for clubs and national teams for both men and women have been put on hold until further notice. The UEFA EURO 2020 Play-off matches and international friendlies, scheduled for the end of March, will now be played in the international window at the start of June, subject to a review of the situation.

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 and any other consequence of the decisions made today.

The decisions, taken by UEFA’s Executive Committee, followed videoconference meetings held today with the Presidents and General Secretaries of the 55 national associations, as well as representatives of the European Club Association, European Leagues and FIFPro Europe, convened by UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, to find a coherent plan to break the logjam of fixtures building up due to the spread of the virus across the continent.

Announcing the decisions, Aleksander Ceferin 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 co-operation, 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.”

“Football is an uplifting and powerful force in society. The thought of celebrating a pan-European festival of football in empty stadia, with deserted fan zones while the continent sits at home in isolation, is a joyless one and one we could not accept to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the competition.”

“I would like to thank the European Club Association, the European Leagues and FIFPro Europe for their great work today and for their cooperation. I would also like to thank from the bottom of my heart the 55 national associations, their Presidents and General Secretaries, and my colleagues from the Executive Committee for their support and wise decisions. The fine detail will be worked out in the coming weeks but the basic principles have been agreed and that is a major step forward. We have all shown that we are responsible leaders. We have demonstrated solidarity and unity. Purpose over profit. We’ve achieved this today.”

“I would also like to thank Alejandro Dominguez and CONMEBOL, who have agreed to move CONMEBOL’s 2020 Copa America in order to follow the recommendations issued by the international public health organisations to enact extreme measures and as a result of EURO 2020 being postponed. This means that clubs and leagues in Europe will have as little disruption as possible in the availability of their players. These joint efforts and especially this coordinated and responsible decision, are deeply appreciated by the whole European football community.”

“I would like to thank FIFA and its President, Gianni Infantino, who has indicated it will do whatever is required to make this new calendar work. In the face of this crisis, football has shown its best side with openness, solidarity and tolerance.”

UEFA EURO 2020 was scheduled to take place in twelve cities across Europe from 12 June to 12 July 2020. The proposed new dates are 11 June – 11 July 2021. UEFA would like to reassure existing ticket buyers and hospitality clients that if they cannot attend the tournament in 2021, the face value of their tickets and packages will be refunded in full. Within the next month, further information on the refund process will be communicated to existing ticket buyers via e-mail and on euro2020.com/tickets.

Decisions on dates for other UEFA competitions, whether club or national team for men or women, will be taken and announced in due course.

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13 March: all this week’s scheduled UEFA club competitions matches postponed

In light of developments due to the spread of COVID-19 in Europe and related decisions made by different governments, all UEFA club competitions matches scheduled for the following week are postponed.

This includes the remaining UEFA Champions League round of 16 second legs scheduled for 17 and 18 March; all UEFA Europa League round of 16 second legs scheduled for 19 March; and all UEFA Youth League quarter-final matches scheduled for 17 and 18 March.

Further decisions on when these matches take place will be communicated in due course.

As a consequence of the postponements, the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League quarter-final draws scheduled for 20 March have also been postponed.

UEFA has invited representatives of its 55 member associations, together with the boards of the European Club Association and the European Leagues and a representative of FIFPro, to a video conference meeting on Tuesday 17 March to discuss European football’s response to the outbreak.

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12 March: UEFA calls European football stakeholders meeting

In light of the ongoing developments in the spread of COVID-19 across Europe and the changing analysis of the World Health Organisation, UEFA has invited representatives of its 55 member associations, together with the boards of the European Club Association and the European Leagues and a representative of FIFPro, to attend meetings by video conference on Tuesday 17 March to discuss European football’s response to the outbreak.

Discussions will include all domestic and European competitions, including UEFA EURO 2020.

Further communication will be made following those meetings.

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12 March: Elite round mini-tournaments of U17 and WU17, U19 and WU19 EUROs cancelled

In light of developments due to the spread of COVID-19 in Europe and the related travelling restrictions imposed by governments, all elite round mini-tournaments of the U17 and women’s U17, U19 and women’s U19 European Championships, due to take place between 14 March and 14 April, are postponed.

This is a general precautionary measure, taken to avoid the possibility of players – many of whom would be minors – being stranded away from their families in the event of host governments declaring lockdowns or quarantines.

Further information about the rescheduling of these competitions will be given in due course, after a thorough assessment of options.

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