Euro 2020: Turkey - Italy, opening match of the competition held a year later than expected

Turkey - Italy (Group A), the opening match of Euro 2020, was scheduled to take place at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome (ITA) on Friday 12/06/2020 when it was first drawn in Bucharest (ROU) on 30/11/2019.

But that was before the Covid-19 pandemic forced UEFA to take an unprecedented decision on 17/03/2020, less than three months before the start of its quadrennial tournament: the event was postponed by 52 weeks while retaining its name "Euro 2020".

The IOC and the Japanese authorities would adopt similar measures seven days later, on 24/03/2020, regarding the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which was postponed "beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021."

"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," said Aleksander Ceferin, president of UEFA.

At the time of the Euro's postponement, 7,000 people had died worldwide. The death toll has since been multiplied by more than…