Euro 2020 still in the balance
100 DAYS: HOST CITIES HAVE UNTIL APRIL TO MAKE CALL
Today marks 100 days until the scheduled start of Euro 2020 but there remains much uncertainty about exactly how and where a competition that was postponed last year due to the coronavirus pandemic will take place.
The opening match between Turkey and Italy is due to be played in Rome on 11 June, while seven matches are set to go ahead at Wembley in London, including both semifinals and the final.
The decision by European football’s governing body Uefa to stage the competition for the first time all across the continent, in 12 different cities, was a logistical challenge even before international travel was restricted by the spread of Covid-19.
Elite-level football has managed to keep going thanks to rigorous testing protocols but has been played in soulless, empty stadiums with supporters still shut out in most of the countries due to host matches.
Underlining the logistical challenges, a number of Uefa Champions League and Europa League games in recent weeks have been moved to neutral venues as a result of travel restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of new strains of the virus.
Uefa has so far stuck to its original plan for London and Glasgow, as well as Dublin, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Saint-Petersburg, Bilbao, Munich, Budapest, Baku, Rome and Bucharest to host matches.
However, European football’s governing body has given all host cities until early April to say if they will be in a position to accommodate spectators inside stadiums and at what percentage of capacity.
“Fans are such a big part of what makes football special,” said Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin in his most recent public address on the matter in January.
“We must allow ourselves the maximum space to allow their return to the stadiums.”
The travel logistics, as well as the economic consequences of playing an international tournament behind closed doors, have forced Uefa to consider contingency plans.
That has led to rumours that the whole event could be moved to one country if it meant selling more tickets. –