Euro, Copa America postponed to 2021
Lausanne, March 17
UEFA has postponed the European Championship, due to take place across the continent in June and July this year, until 2021 after holding crisis meetings today, European football’s governing body announced.
“The move will help all domestic competitions, currently on hold due to the Covid-19 emergency, to be completed,” UEFA said in a statement.
Most of Europe’s domestic leagues have been suspended as football confronts its biggest issue in modern times. The UEFA Champions League and Europa League competitions for clubs have also been suspended, with both still in the last-16 stage, but postponing the European Championship for national sides means they, along with national leagues, will have the chance to be completed, assuming travel restrictions are lifted in time. The head of the Italian football federation, Gabriele Gravina, had already led calls for the Euros to be postponed. Euro 2020 was due to be held in 12 different cities.
The semifinals and final were due to be played in London and there would be considerable knock-on effects to postponing the competition — the women’s European Championship is scheduled to run from July 7 to August 1 next year in England, with the final at Wembley.
Copa America in June 2021
Sao Paulo: This year’s Copa America has been postponed until 2021 due to fears over the spread of the coronavirus, the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) said. The 12-team tournament had originally been scheduled to take place from June 12 to July 12 in Colombia and Argentina. CONMEBOL president Alejandro Dominguez said the rescheduled tournament would be played between June 11 and July 11 next year. — Reuters
French Open postponed to September
Paris: The French Open tennis tournament has been postponed until September 20 to October 4 amid the coronavirus outbreak, organisers of the season’s second Grand Slam said today. It was initially scheduled to be played from May 24 to June 7. “In order to guarantee the health and safety of all those involved in the preparation of the tournament, the French Tennis Federation decided to organise the 2020 edition of Roland-Garros from 20 September to 4 October 2020,” the French tennis federation said in a statement. “While no one today can predict what the health situation will be like on May 18 (when qualifications were due to start), the lockdown measures in force make it impossible to prepare for it and therefore to organise it on the dates initially planned.” — Reuters
