Covid-19: Euro 2020 to be rescheduled for 2021 to make way for domestic leagues and European Cups

Italy - Turkey, the opening match of the next Euro was scheduled to take place at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome (ITA) on Friday 12/06/2020: this match will now be played 52 weeks later, on Friday 11/06/2021. UEFA decided to postpone Euro 2020 by one year (from 11/06 to 11/07 2021), on 17/03/2020, in the face of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, which had already claimed nearly 15,000 lives worldwide as of 22/03/2020.

Confronted with this global health crisis, European clubs and leagues quickly expressed a common concern: to complete their domestic championships, which they were forced to suspend. "We will propose to UEFA that the European Championship (Euro 2020) is postponed in order to conclude the league season: we believe that it’s fairer and more appropriate to give a definitive ending to the season after all of the sacrifices, efforts and investments made by our clubs," announced Gabriele Gravina (ITA), president of the FIGC, on 15/03/2020.

UEFA, meanwhile, had another, not necessarily contradictory, priority: to schedule the 17 Champions League and 21 Europa League matches…