UEFA suspend all football activity indefinitely over COVID-19 pandemic
UEFA have suspended all football activity until further notice to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Reports indicate that UEFA had hoped to try and finish Champions League and Europa League games by June 30th, with the Euros postponed, but the global crisis has changed their outlook.
However, despite the crisis, the hope was that all Champions League and Europa League games would end by the final week of June but things have changed now. ESPN, and various other sources have confirmed that UEFA have indefinitely suspended the Champions League, Europa League and the final round of play-offs for the Euro 2020. A statement released by European football’s governing body also revealed that all national team matches for men and women have also been postponed.
Reports indicate that a tentative June 30th deadline was what UEFA had in mind, which is when player contracts expire, but FIFA are all set to extend that deadline. ESPN has reported that it will be extended until the last day of the season, which is yet to be decided by the various football associations across Europe and even the world. The statement from UEFA went onto confirm the same and it also admitted that this decision took place after a meeting between the 55 member associations.
“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. All national team matches for men and women due to be played in June 2020 are postponed until further notice,” a statement on UEFA’s website revealed.
"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.”
The suspension of football across Europe has caused serious financial issues for clubs with many struggling to balance their books without matchday and advertising revenue. That saw UEFA confirm that they are relaxing their financial fair play rules (FFP) over a clause that allows them to do so and they further confirmed the same. UEFA also revealed that they’ve also decided to “suspend the club licensing provisions” that relate to their “future financial information”.
“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,” UEFA further added.
All national team matches for men and women due to be played in June 2020 are postponed until further notice.
— UEFA (@UEFA) April 1, 2020
All other UEFA competition matches, including centralised international friendly matches, remain postponed until further notice.
Full statement: 👇