THE RACE AGAINST TIME
Deluded UEFA in battle to get season completed in 101 days
UEFA have outlined a plan to get on top of coronavirus, finish all major domestic league and cup football and play the final four rounds of the Champions League.
Apparently it is going to take them just 101 days.
They have a few more tweaks up their sleeve if all does not quite run to plan – but when are football’s authorities going to get real?
Simple calculations show that just to finish the season in this country we realistically have to be under way by April 25 with no more interruptions.
That about leaves time for a couple of European finals while Leagues One and Two complete their play-off formalities a few days later.
But with Manchester City already facing 10 more league fixtures and up to three FA Cup ties, even playing every midweek and weekend would leave them with just two slots to complete their round-of-16 European tie and play a one-off quarter-final, before heading potentially to a Champions League mini-tournament for the semi-final and final culminating on June 27.
Which, incidentally, is four days after next season’s Champions League preliminary qualifiers are set to begin between the champions of Northern Ireland, Kosovo, Andorra and San Marino. So to think that season 2020-21 can start in any way normally seems ludicrous.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said: “We have Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, Plan D. It depends all on the time when we’ll have a chance to start playing football in Europe again.”
In truth, all the signs are that coronavirus seems set to take us much deeper into the alphabet.
Meanwhile, Ceferin is filling the time making hopeful platitudes about looking after the spirit of the game. “We have to think about football as a whole, the whole ecosystem of football,” he added. “We will start assessing that, but it will go to hundreds of millions of euros.
“I’ve seen some fake news that we were putting a condition that leagues and clubs pay us the amount of £270million to postpone the Euros. I can say it’s a complete nonsense.
“Today, it’s time for unity and tomorrow we assess the possible damages.”
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham hinted at government help, though it can scarcely be a huge priority.
“There are some clubs, particularly at the lower end of the pyramid, that are going to struggle,” said Bullingham.
“We’re having lots of conversations with the government and other football stakeholders about that.”
It is little wonder, then, that football wants to get back on track as quickly as possible.
But why the hurry to get on with next season instead of focusing on bringing this one to a proper, unhurried close?
“It hasn’t been phrased in that way by anyone,” Bullingham added. “Everyone would like to get the season finished.”