UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has warned that this season’s Champions League and Europa League could be scrapped entirely if restrictions designed to curb the spread of the coronavirus remain in place in September.
Both competitions are currently suspended until further notice due to the deadly global pandemic which has forced most major sports across the world to suspend activities. Hopes have nonetheless remained that the health crisis might abate in the coming months, allowing football chiefs a potential window in which to fulfil any postponed fixtures for this season.
But with the coronavirus situation showing little sign of abating and the period in which games must be played in order to leave room for the beginning of next season’s campaigns, UEFA have admitted that there is a deadline by which they must act or face scrapping this season’s competitions entirely.
“We can’t play it out in September or October,” Ceferin said to ZDF Sportstudio. “If the authorities do not allow us to play, then we cannot play.“
“The fact is that we really don’t know much,” Ceferin explained further. “We are waiting for the development of this terrible situation in the world, and mainly in Europe.
“It is still better to play the game behind closed doors and have it on TV, which is what the people need and want because it brings positive energy to their homes, than not playing at all.
“That’s what the people want, that brings positive energy, and it will be July or August.”
While domestic seasons may be a little easier to remedy due to each individual country falling under its own set of coronavirus restrictions, the situation is complicated by European football, by its very definition, requiring consent from various leagues, teams and their respective governing bodies.
