Reports | UEFA seriously considering suspending European competitions
European football’s governing body UEFA are considering suspending both the Champions League and the Europa League after the Round of 16 ends. This comes in lieu of the coronavirus outbreak which has seen Italy suspend all sporting activities and Spain, France and Germany play behind closed doors.
This comes after the Italian government announced that all sporting activity in the country has been suspended for at least a month with them set to check and revisit the topic then. However, they were later joined by Spain who have decided to play any game over the next two weeks behind doors, with Europa League and Champions League games also joining the suit.
Chelsea’s clash against Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund in France, Barcelona’s tie against Napoli at the Camp Nou Inter Milan’s and Wolves’ Europa League fixtures will be played behind closed doors. However, according to the Metro, UEFA are considering how to proceed amidst a health crisis and Catalunya Radio have reported that European football’s governing body has floated around the idea of suspending European competitions.
It further reported that this will only take place after the completion of the latest round with both the Champions League and Europa League in their round of sixteen stages. At the moment, the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals are set to be played in the first week of April with the return legs played a week later. The Europa League follows the same format with the round of 16 ties set to be played on Thursday with the return legs scheduled for next week.
The Europa League quarter-final, however, are due to take place a day after the Champions League quarter-finals with the same applying a week later.