UEFA decided to show solidarity with various leagues across Europe by pushing the Euro to 2021, which seemed like a popular suggestion. That will give extra time to the leagues to finish the rest of their games. UEFA wants the leagues to be completed by June end.
UEFA President prepared with various plans
However, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin indicated that this is not set in the stonewall deadline and they are ready with other solutions as well if things don’t go according to plan. Ceferin recently said (Washington Post), “We have Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, Plan D. Depends all on the time when we will have a chance to start playing football in Europe again.”
So the priority seems to be completing the ongoing season somehow.
There were also rumours doing the round that UEFA would demand an exorbitant amount of money (£275m to be precise) from various leagues for pushing the Euro to 2021. Ceferin squashed those rumours by saying, “I’ve seen some fake news these days that we were putting a condition that leagues and clubs pay us the amount of 300m to postpone the Euro. I can say that it’s complete nonsense. Today, it’s time for unity and for deciding. And tomorrow, it’s time to start assessing the possible damages.”
It’s clear that UEFA decided to go for the welfare of football and the people involved in it. They would undoubtedly take a massive financial hit for pushing the Euro. Given the circumstances, this was probably the best decision UEFA could have come up with for now.
However, whether it’s realistic to get the league completed by June 30, we try to find out.
Is it realistic from UEFA?
Given the number of games left, some simple calculation as claimed by the Express shows that the league needs to be started by somewhere in the last week of April at worst to get the season completed by June end. UEFA wants all of the European league to be completed by then. Even then, some teams like Manchester City could find it hard to finish their ties even if they play two games a week as they are involved in numerous competitions.
However, the significant problem is that every country has its own timeline regards to the outbreak of Coronavirus. Italy is quite clearly the worst hit in Europe so far and expecting the Serie A to be started in around a month seems to be a lofty dream at the moment. What if another team draws an Italian team in Champions League/ Europa League and Italy is not yet ready to start football again. Those questions are not answered by UEFA yet.
Hence, the problem of the timeline could be a significant issue as different countries have different levels of emergency at the moment. Surely the European games cannot go on if one country is ready to play and another isn’t.
UK and others seem to be around 10- 14 days behind (Metro) Italy in terms of the virus outbreak and the next few weeks could be crucial. There also indications (BBC) from some expert doctors that the virus could peak during May or June. UEFA is expecting to play the bulk of its game during those two months so best of luck to them on that front.
Maybe we could be in line to play games in empty stadiums once the league restarts. However, will the players be willing to risk travelling for games and playing a contact sport at times likes this? Will the players arrive in full-fledged coronavirus protective suit for games? The questions are endless.
As things stand, the current approach from UEFA is an optimistic one, and it hinges on the virus subsiding in the next 3-4 weeks at worst. However, they seem ready with other plans as well according to Ceferin. Nobody is sure what would happen with the virus in the upcoming weeks. Its unchartered territory for everyone. From Prime Ministers to health officials to football fans, all they can do is hope for the best.
