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：
欧足联将2020年欧洲杯推迟12个月
2020年3月17日星期二
欧足联以前所未有的团结行动优先完成国内比赛。成立工作组来研究本赛季欧洲冠军联赛和欧洲冠军联赛的可能性。
欧洲足联今天宣布推迟其旗舰国家队比赛UEFA EURO 2020，该比赛将于今年6月和7月举行。比赛中所有参与者的身体健康是当务之急，同时也要避免对进行比赛的国家公共服务造成不必要的压力。此举将有助于完成目前因COVID-19紧急状态而暂停的所有国内比赛。
UEFA男女俱乐部和国家队的所有比赛和比赛（包括友谊赛）都已暂停，直到另行通知。计划于3月底举行的2020年UEFA欧元附加赛和国际友谊赛将在6月初在国际窗口内进行，具体情况视情况而定。
已经成立了一个由联盟和俱乐部代表参加的工作组，以研究日历解决方案，该解决方案将使当前赛季的完成以及今天做出的决定的任何其他结果成为可能。
欧足联执行委员会做出的决定是在今天与55个国家级协会的主席和秘书长以及由欧足联主席AleksanderČeferin召集的欧洲俱乐部协会，欧洲联盟和FIFPro Europe的代表举行视频会议之后举行的。找到一个连贯的计划来打破由于病毒在整个非洲大陆传播而造成的固定装置的僵局。
宣布决定后，亚历山大·塞弗林说：
“我们掌控着这项运动，这一无形而又快速移动的对手已经使人们无数次地生活和呼吸。在这种情况下，足球界需要表现出责任感，团结，团结和利他主义。
“球迷，员工和球员的身体健康是我们的首要任务，本着这种精神，欧足联提出了一系列选择，以确保本赛季的比赛能够安全完成，我为欧洲足球界的同事们的反应感到骄傲。本着一种真正的合作精神，每个人都意识到必须牺牲一些东西才能取得最佳结果。
“重要的是，作为欧洲足球的领导机构，欧足联领导了这一进程并做出了最大的牺牲。2020年欧锦赛为欧足联付出了巨大的代价，但我们将尽最大努力确保为基层，女子足球队提供重要的资金。足球和我们55个国家/地区的比赛发展不受影响，以赢利为目的一直是我们为整个欧洲足球做出这一决定的指导原则。
“足球是社会中一支令人振奋的强大力量。在空荡荡的体育场中庆祝泛欧足球节的想法是，这里的足球迷们空无一人，而非洲大陆则是一个孤立的家，这是一种令人无法接受的欢乐，我们无法接受庆祝比赛成立60周年。
“我要感谢欧洲俱乐部协会，欧洲联盟和FIFPro Europe在今天所做的出色工作以及他们的合作。我也要衷心感谢55个国家协会，其会长和秘书长，以及执行委员会的同事们的支持和明智的决定，我们将在未来几周内制定出详细的细节，但基本原则已经商定，这是向前迈出的重要一步，我们都表明我们是负责任的领导人。我们表现出团结与团结，目标超过利润，今天我们已经实现了这一目标。
“我还要感谢亚历杭德罗·多米格斯和CONMEBOL，他们同意搬迁CONMEBOL的2020年美洲杯，以遵循国际公共卫生组织发布的建议，以采取极端措施，并推迟了2020年欧洲杯。这意味着欧洲的俱乐部和联赛将尽可能减少对球员的干扰，这些共同的努力，尤其是这一协调和负责任的决定，得到了整个欧洲足球界的高度赞赏。
“我要感谢国际足联及其主席詹尼·因凡蒂诺，后者表示将竭尽所能，使这项新的日历工作。面对这场危机，足球在开放，团结和宽容方面表现出了最大的优势。 ”
UEFA EURO 2020计划于2020年6月12日至2020年7月12日在欧洲的12个城市举行。提议的新日期为2021年6月11日至7月11日。UEFA希望向现有的门票购买者和酒店客户保证，如果他们不能参加该活动，在2021年的比赛中，其门票和套票的面值将全额退还。在下个月之内，有关退款流程的更多信息将通过电子邮件和euro2020.com/tickets传达给现有的购票者。
届时将决定并宣布其他UEFA比赛日期的决定，无论是男子俱乐部还是女子俱乐部。