UEFA has confirmed its club competitions remain suspended until further notice, while all of June’s international matches have been postponed.
European football’s governing body announced the news yesterday following a meeting with its 55 member associations to discuss strategy in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
The postponement of international fixtures includes Euro 2020 qualifiers involving Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland, as well as qualifying matches for the Women’s European Championships in 2021. England were scheduled to have friendlies against Austria and Romania in June, while Wales were set to face the Netherlands
Deadlines related to the 2020-21 UEFA club competitions are also postponed, with the governing body saying it would issue further advice in due course. UEFA have also cancelled the European U17 Championship final tournament scheduled for May 2020 and the European Women’s U19 Championship finals due to take place in July this year. Former FA executive Adrian Bevington believes UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has responded in the right way to the coronavirus outbreak.
The executive committee has decided to suspend certain aspects of club licensing provisions due to the “increasing uncertainty generated by the on-going extraordinary events”.
These include the requirement to provide the preparation and assessment of clubs’ future financial information.
The UEFA statement said: “The executive committee reiterated its full commitment to club licensing and financial fair play and agreed that the current exceptional circumstances necessitate some specific interventions to facilitate the work of member associations and clubs.” – The Nation