UEFA eager to successfully complete competitions by late August

UEFA is predicted to soon unveil its plan for completing the 2019/2020 season in August, with the finals of the Champions League and Europa League set to be played towards the end of summer.

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As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, almost all sporting leagues across Europe are currently paused, with only the Belarusian Premier League continuing to be held. However, with the peak of the virus seemingly in the past for certain nations, championships such as the Bundesliga, Czech league and even the Super League in Greece could potentially return in May or June. The latest Greek reports have suggested that training sessions will resume in May before the remaining league matches are held behind closed doors in June and July.

The playoffs and playouts of the Super League were postponed in March.

The situation concerning the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League is a major sticking point, however. At the moment, the majority of borders across the continent are closed, but both competitions are yet to even reach the quarter-final stage. Olympiacos, for example, are still waiting to play the second leg of their Last 16 tie against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Europa League. The first match in Piraeus ended in a 1-1 draw.

Nevertheless, despite the obvious difficulties, UEFA is determined to complete both of its flagship competitions by the end of August.

The organisation wants the Champions League and Europa League to return after domestic championships have ended. All matches of the Last 16 phase need to be staged before August 10, and the quarter-final ties will subsequently be played within the next week. There will only be a three-day break between matches.

Sky Italia suggested that the second match between Wolves and Olympiacos will be played on August 6 in England.

UEFA is eager to hold the Europa League final in Poland on August 26 and the showpiece game of the Champions League in Turkey three days later. 

The group stage of the 2020/2021 Champions League is predicted to begin in the latter half of October. 

Furthermore, in a change of tack, UEFA has now stated that it will listen to national federations which want to cancel their respective league seasons. Europe’s governing body had previously sent out a warning that clubs from leagues which took the decision to permanently end the campaign would miss out on UEFA tournaments in the 2020/2021 campaign.

This following statement was released by UEFA on Tuesday: 

“UEFA today met its 55 member associations via videoconference and presented an update of the options being looked into by the two working groups that were created mid-March.  

“A variety of calendar options were presented covering both national team and club competition matches.

“The funding of National Associations through UEFA’s HatTrick programme was also discussed with UEFA reiterating its commitment to meeting the payments to member associations as planned.

“There was a strong recommendation given to finish domestic top division and cup competitions, although it is understood that there may be some special cases. With this in mind, UEFA is currently developing some guidelines concerning participation in its club competitions, in order to assist its member associations in case of a cancelled league or cup.

“Any developments on the above topics would be announced after the UEFA Executive Committee on Thursday.”

UEFA will hold another conference on Thursday to discuss the future of the current season in more detail. 

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