NOT SO SMART , ALEKS
Euros put back until 2021 but UEFA chief insists domestic leagues can finish in JUNE
EURO 2020 has officially been cancelled – with plans announced for a Euro 2021 to start on June 11 with its final at Wembley on July 11 instead.
But UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin is still insisting that topflight leagues can be wrapped up across Europe in time for a Champions League final as early as June 27. By clearing the international calendar for the summer, UEFA feel they can find a few extra weeks to squeeze in the remaining club fixtures – despite fears that the current break in football in England may well go on way past the April 3 deadline. All 55 national
associations met with representatives of the players and the clubs and Ceferin, who claimed that European football’s governing body was making the “biggest sacrifice”.
“Moving Euro 2020 comes at a huge cost for UEFA but we will do our best to ensure that the vital funding for grassroots, women’s football and the development of the game in our 55 countries is not affected,” he said.
“It was important that as the governing body of European football, UEFA, led the process and made the biggest sacrifice.” He dismissed the option of holding the tournament behind closed doors as “joyless”.
But it is plans for UEFA’s other competitions that seem rather blinkered.
Playing both European finals during the last week in June means finishing the Premier League season on June 14, a week before a potential FA Cup final on June 20. With even heavier schedules to fit in lower down the leagues, that would mean football in this country getting fully up and running on the weekend of April 25.