UEFA have officially decided to postpone the Euros until the summer of 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic decimating the football calendar.
It has been decided that the showpiece Euros will now take place between June 11 to July 11 next year.
During Tuesday’s meeting involving UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, which included a series of video conferences, they decided to cancel this summer’s showpiece football event. A pan-European tournament, with 12 host cities, was ambitious at the outset and in the current climate had appeared almost impossible to achieve.
Getting rid of both international competitions means there should now be breathing space for other club tournaments to take place and finish.
UEFA want the European football season to be finished by the end of June in the hope that the Champions League and Europa League can both be concluded this summer, according to reports.
According to The Telegraph, UEFA wants this season’s Champions League and Europa League campaigns to be concluded and the continent’s domestic leagues all to resume at the same time. Premier League clubs are expected to discuss UEFA’s plans in their own meeting on Thursday.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, a conference call was held involving all 55 European national associations, at which the FA were represented by chief executive Mark Bullingham.
Potential issues may arise with some of the smaller federations, who are due a projected £14million from the tournament, a sum which is vital to their existence.
An agreement may be reached which sees them given temporary funding until the tournament takes place next summer. The cost of postponement was also set to be discussed.
Meanwhile, UEFA are reportedly demanding £275million from its member clubs and leagues to postpone the tournament by a year.
The governing body believes that amount would be required to push back the tournament by 12 months.
The priority of member leagues remains with completing the current campaign, rather than controversially scrapping any progress and achievements made to date.
There is also a reluctance to rule the season null and void due to the countless legal challenges that could be brought forward by disgruntled clubs.