EURO 2020 and Copa America 2020 officially postponed to next year
In a move that was expected to arrive sooner than later, UEFA has made things official. On Tuesday, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin announced EURO 2020 will not take place this summer and has been pushed back to next year.
With the ongoing spread of COVID-19, which includes players on clubs in different countries testing positive, UEFA wants to do everything it can to prevent future cases. Pushing things back by a year simply had to be done.
"The health of fans, staff and players has to be our number one priority and, in that spirit, UEFA tabled a range of options so that competitions can finish this season safely and I am proud of the response of my colleagues across European football," Ceferin said in a statement. "There was a real spirit of cooperation, with everyone recognizing that they had to sacrifice something in order to achieve the best result.
"It was important that, as the governing body of European football, UEFA led the process and made 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. Purpose over profit has been our guiding principle in taking this decision for the good of European football as a whole.
UEFA today announced the postponement of UEFA EURO 2020.
— UEFA (@UEFA) March 17, 2020
A working group has been set up with the participation of leagues and club representatives to examine calendar solutions that would allow for the completion of the current season...
Full statement: 👇
While this news certainly affects millions of people around the world -- fans, players, coaches and more -- Ceferin said there was a widespread agreement in making it EURO 2021.
In addition to EURO 2020 being moved, the same can be said for our friends in South America for Copa America 2020, which was scheduled to be played in Argentina and Colombia.
The tournament will now take place starting on June 11 of 2021 and will be played through July 11. The Brazilians won the last Copa America, which was also held in Brazil.
“The world is facing an unprecedented health challenge and clearly a global and collective response is needed,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said of both postponements. “Cooperation, mutual respect and understanding must be the guiding principles for all decision makers to have in mind at this crucial moment in time.”