FA chief executive confirms the priority is ‘to finish this season’ despite postponements
English governing body remain in talks with stakeholders over dates, security and delays
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Your support makes all the difference.The English Football Association remain committed to a course of action which will see the 2019-20 campaign finished off whenever possible, despite widespread postponements throughout the game.
Tuesday’s meetings between UEFA, member states and other groups saw the decision taken to postpone Euro 2020, which the FA‘s chief executive, Mark Bullingham, says was partly due to governing bodies’ wishes to complete the domestic calender as normal.
“Everyone’s priority is to finish this season,” he told Sky Sports. “That’s one of the main reasons for delaying the Euros, to allow a window that, if the virus gets under control, there will be a window to potentially finish the season.
“At the moment, we don’t know what’s going to happen. We’re planning every eventuality so that we can react. The most important thing at the moment is people’s health..”
While there is no reasonable timeframe at present to state when domestic action can reasonably resume—the current early April restart is widely considered to be unrealistic and only a necessary placeholder—the plan remains to see out all competitions to the usual conclusion.
That means all leagues would get to finish, including play-offs in the Championship and below, while there would also then be no need for an expanded Premier League next season, which has been suggested as a potential alternative.
With every passing week that the game’s restart is delayed, however, other factors come into play.
Bullingham says steps are being taken to ensure all eventualities are thought out and provided for, including for if games go on past the usual summer months when players’ contracts might expire or clubs’ commercial deals change.
“At the moment we’ve got a number of contingency plans and we will continue to adapt as and when we get more information.
“Clearly there are different scenarios if you try and finish the season before the end of June and after it. At this moment in time…there are so many variables, we’re building up a contingency for every different eventuality.
“Some are more complicated than others but the number one priority at the moment is the health of the nation, and football will play its part in that.”
Bullingham also acknowledged the plight of some of England’s smaller sides and their financial struggles with games postponed but stopped short of confirming whether they would be bailed out.
In addition, he confirmed that the Women’s European Championships would face a “delay” to either “later in 2021 or into 2022.”
Talks remain ongoing as to when that competition could be held, while Uefa have also yet to confirm dates for club competitions including the Champions League.
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