UEFA postpones EURO 2020 by 12 months
Tuesday 17 March 2020
Priority given to completing domestic competitions in an unprecedented solidarity move by UEFA. Working group set up to examine possibilities for this season's UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League competitions.
UEFA today announced the postponement of its flagship national team competition, UEFA EURO 2020, due to be played in June and July this year. The health of all those involved in the game is the priority, as well as to avoid placing any unnecessary pressure on national public services involved in staging matches. The move will help all domestic competitions, currently on hold due to the COVID-19 emergency, to be completed.
All UEFA competitions and matches (including friendlies) for clubs and national teams for both men and women have been put on hold until further notice. The UEFA EURO 2020 play-off matches and international friendlies, scheduled for the end of March, will now be played in the international window at the start of June, subject to a review of the situation.
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 and any other consequence of the decisions made today.
The decisions, taken by UEFA's Executive Committee, followed videoconference meetings held today with the presidents and general secretaries of the 55 national associations, as well as representatives of the European Club Association, European Leagues and FIFPro Europe, convened by UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin, to find a coherent plan to break the logjam of fixtures building up due to the spread of the virus across the continent.
Announcing the decisions, Aleksander Čeferin said:
"We are at the helm of a sport that vast numbers of people live and breathe that has been laid low by this invisible and fast-moving opponent. It is at times like these that the football community needs to show responsibility, unity, solidarity and altruism.
"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. There was a real spirit of cooperation, with everyone recognising 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.
"Football is an uplifting and powerful force in society. The thought of celebrating a pan-European festival of football in empty stadia, with deserted fan zones while the continent sits at home in isolation, is a joyless one and one we could not accept to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the competition.
"I would like to thank the European Club Association, the European Leagues and FIFPro Europe for their great work today and for their cooperation. I would also like to thank from the bottom of my heart the 55 national associations, their presidents and general secretaries, and my colleagues from the Executive Committee for their support and wise decisions. The fine detail will be worked out in the coming weeks but the basic principles have been agreed and that is a major step forward. We have all shown that we are responsible leaders. We have demonstrated solidarity and unity. Purpose over profit. We've achieved this today.
"I would also like to thank Alejandro Domínguez and CONMEBOL, who have agreed to move CONMEBOL's 2020 Copa America in order to follow the recommendations issued by the international public health organisations to enact extreme measures and as a result of EURO 2020 being postponed. This means that clubs and leagues in Europe will have as little disruption as possible in the availability of their players. These joint efforts and especially this coordinated and responsible decision, are deeply appreciated by the whole European football community.
"I would like to thank FIFA and its President, Gianni Infantino, who has indicated it will do whatever is required to make this new calendar work. In the face of this crisis, football has shown its best side with openness, solidarity and tolerance."
UEFA EURO 2020 was scheduled to take place in 12 cities across Europe from 12 June to 12 July 2020. The proposed new dates are 11 June to 11 July 2021. UEFA would like to reassure existing ticket buyers and hospitality clients that if they cannot attend the tournament in 2021, the face value of their tickets and packages will be refunded in full. Within the next month, further information on the refund process will be communicated to existing ticket buyers via email and on euro2020.com/tickets.
Decisions on dates for other UEFA competitions, whether club or national team for men or women, will be taken and announced in due course.
中文速翻：
歐足聯將2020年歐洲盃推遲12個月
2020年3月17日星期二
歐足聯以前所未有的團結行動優先完成國內比賽。成立工作組來研究本賽季歐洲冠軍聯賽和歐洲冠軍聯賽的可能性。
歐洲足聯今天宣佈推遲其旗艦國家隊比賽UEFA EURO 2020，該比賽將於今年6月和7月舉行。比賽中所有參與者的身體健康是當務之急，同時也要避免對進行比賽的國家公共服務造成不必要的壓力。此舉將有助於完成目前因COVID-19緊急狀態而暫停的所有國內比賽。
UEFA男女俱樂部和國家隊的所有比賽和比賽（包括友誼賽）都已暫停，直到另行通知。計劃於3月底舉行的2020年UEFA歐元附加賽和國際友誼賽將在6月初在國際窗口內進行，具體情況視情況而定。
已經成立了一個由聯盟和俱樂部代表參加的工作組，以研究日曆解決方案，該解決方案將使當前賽季的完成以及今天做出的決定的任何其他結果成為可能。
歐足聯執行委員會做出的決定是在今天與55個國家級協會的主席和秘書長以及由歐足聯主席AleksanderČeferin召集的歐洲俱樂部協會，歐洲聯盟和FIFPro Europe的代表舉行視頻會議之後舉行的。找到一個連貫的計劃來打破由於病毒在整個非洲大陸傳播而造成的固定裝置的僵局。
宣佈決定後，亞歷山大·塞弗林說：
“我們掌控著這項運動，這一無形而又快速移動的對手已經使人們無數次地生活和呼吸。在這種情況下，足球界需要表現出責任感，團結，團結和利他主義。
“球迷，員工和球員的身體健康是我們的首要任務，本著這種精神，歐足聯提出了一系列選擇，以確保本賽季的比賽能夠安全完成，我為歐洲足球界的同事們的反應感到驕傲。本著一種真正的合作精神，每個人都意識到必須犧牲一些東西才能取得最佳結果。
“重要的是，作為歐洲足球的領導機構，歐足聯領導了這一進程並做出了最大的犧牲。2020年歐錦賽為歐足聯付出了巨大的代價，但我們將盡最大努力確保為基層，女子足球隊提供重要的資金。足球和我們55個國家/地區的比賽發展不受影響，以贏利為目的一直是我們為整個歐洲足球做出這一決定的指導原則。
“足球是社會中一支令人振奮的強大力量。在空蕩蕩的體育場中慶祝泛歐足球節的想法是，這裡的足球迷們空無一人，而非洲大陸則是一個孤立的家，這是一種令人無法接受的歡樂，我們無法接受慶祝比賽成立60週年。
“我要感謝歐洲俱樂部協會，歐洲聯盟和FIFPro Europe在今天所做的出色工作以及他們的合作。我也要衷心感謝55個國家協會，其會長和秘書長，以及執行委員會的同事們的支持和明智的決定，我們將在未來幾周內製定出詳細的細節，但基本原則已經商定，這是向前邁出的重要一步，我們都表明我們是負責任的領導人。我們表現出團結與團結，目標超過利潤，今天我們已經實現了這一目標。
“我還要感謝亞歷杭德羅·多米格斯和CONMEBOL，他們同意搬遷CONMEBOL的2020年美洲盃，以遵循國際公共衛生組織發佈的建議，以採取極端措施，並推遲了2020年歐洲盃。這意味著歐洲的俱樂部和聯賽將盡可能減少對球員的干擾，這些共同的努力，尤其是這一協調和負責任的決定，得到了整個歐洲足球界的高度讚賞。
“我要感謝國際足聯及其主席詹尼·因凡蒂諾，後者表示將竭盡所能，使這項新的日曆工作。面對這場危機，足球在開放，團結和寬容方面表現出了最大的優勢。 ”
UEFA EURO 2020計劃於2020年6月12日至2020年7月12日在歐洲的12個城市舉行。提議的新日期為2021年6月11日至7月11日。UEFA希望向現有的門票購買者和酒店客戶保證，如果他們不能參加該活動，在2021年的比賽中，其門票和套票的面值將全額退還。在下個月之內，有關退款流程的更多信息將通過電子郵件和euro2020.com/tickets傳達給現有的購票者。
屆時將決定並宣佈其他UEFA比賽日期的決定，無論是男子俱樂部還是女子俱樂部。
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