COVID-19: Euro 2020 postponed to next summer 2021
UEFA today announced the postponement of its flagship national team competition, UEFA EURO 2020 slated to be held this summer. Due to the coronavirus pandemic UEFA has postponed the prestigious tournament for one year and the new dates are 11 June to 11 July 2021.
This summer’s Euro was going to be a landmark tournament because it was going to be held across 12 countries with 24 competing teams. The announcement is unprecedented as the Euro has been played every four years since it began in 1960.
The decision to postpone the Euro for a year means that it will be played just one year out before the FIFA World Cup for the first time. The 2022 World Cup is scheduled to take place November 21 to December 18 in Qatar.
In the statement UEFA says, “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.”
UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin said, “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,” said the Slovenian UEFA president.
“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,” said Čeferin.
The stadiums that were slated to host this year’s Euro were:
- Wembley Stadium – London, England
- Allianz Arena – Munich, Germany
- Stadio Olimpico – Rome, Italy
- Olympic Stadium – Baku, Azerbaijan
- Krestovsky Stadium – Saint Petersburg, Russia
- Arena Nationala – Bucharest, Romania
- Johan Cruyff Arena – Amsterdam, Holland
- Aviva Stadium – Dublin, Ireland
- San Mames – Bilbao, Spain
- Puskas Arena – Budapest, Hungary
- Hampden Park – Glasgow, Scotland
- Parken Stadium – Copenhagen, Denmark
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 email 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.
