AVIVA’S IN LINE FOR MORE TIES

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has claimed football can bring “positive energy” amid the global pandemic.

Ceferin (above) believes that “80 per cent” of national leagues will now complete their fixtures and praised the Bundesliga for the way they have got their season up and running again.

The Bundesliga became the first major European league to restart after the coronavirus interruption and the Premier League is now looking on at the German example as English football is braced for Project Restart.

It has given UEFA hope they will be able to complete their own club competitions with the Champions League and Europa League due to finish in August.

UEFA have an executive committee meeting on May 27 when they are expected to confirm the Champions League and Europa League will be completed in August and could stage a mini-tournament in the final venues of Istanbul and Gdansk respectively.

Ceferin told bein Sports: “As things look I’m sure we can finish the European season and this means UEFA competition.

“We have an idea but we have to wait for the executive committee of UEFA to confirm the dates. I can say the European season will be finished, if everything is as it is now, in August.

“It looks as though the calendar will not be affected much, especially the calendar of UEFA competitions.”

UEFA have opened the door to the Aviva Stadium hosting more games at the Euro 2020 finals next summer.

UEFA president Alexander Ceferin has confirmed there are doubts over three cities hosting games at the tournament - even with the 12 month delay caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Lansdowne Road venue is pencilled in to host three group games and one last 16 game in Dublin.

The other cities due to host games are Amsterdam, Baku, Bilbao, Bucharest, Budapest, Copenhagen, Glasgow, London, Munich, Rome and St Petersburg.

“We’ve had conversations with nine cities and everything is set,” Ceferin said. “With three cities, we have some issues. So we will discuss further.”