Uefa open to leagues across Europe being cancelled in ‘special cases’

Demand for domestic leagues and cups to be completed has been relaxed to a recommendation following the latest Uefa meeting as crisis talks surrounding the coronavirus pandemic continue

Uefa has backed down on its demand that domestic seasons must be finished by accepting that certain leagues will be cancelled “in special cases”.

The 55 member associations met on Tuesday via videoconference to discuss the different options proposed to complete the 2019/20 European football season, with the general secretary from each national governing body included in talks over the calendar resolution debate.

With a resumption date yet to be identified, a number of different scenarios remain on the table, but it is hoped that a number of leagues can resume as early as June, with a condensed European schedule then seeing the Champions League and Europa League completed in August in what is a ‘best-case scenario’ plan.

With another Uefa meeting scheduled for Thursday, this week could see inroads finally made in resuming football across the continent, and the governing body confirmed that although they had previously called for domestic league and cup competitions to be completed at all costs whenever that may be, they now accept that the stance is only a recommendation.

A statement read: “Uefa today met its 55 member associations via videoconference and presented an update of the options being looked into by the two working groups that were created in mid-March.

“A variety of calendar options were presented covering both national team and club competition matches.

“There was a strong recommendation given to finish domestic top division and cup competitions, but some special cases will be heard once guidelines concerning participation to European competitions – in case of a cancelled league – have been developed.

“Any decisions on the above topics would be announced after the Uefa Executive Committee on Thursday.”

The Belgian First Division has already been ended by the Belgian Football Association, despite the threat that European qualification could be impacted by such a move, while there have been calls for the Scottish Premiership to end immediately. There has also been plenty of discussion over the voiding of seasons completely, with the situation across mainland Europe looking bleak over a resumption of football games even if they are staged behind closed doors due to the strain that such events will put on health services and the potential for fans to congregate outside closed stadiums.

Should the Premier League end up being voided entirely, Liverpool would miss out on a first title in 30 years, while the process of promotion and relegation would also need to be addressed with legal action almost certain regardless of how the matter is determined, due to clubs having different demands and desires.

Uefa also confirmed that their funding of member associations will not be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, with payments expected to go through as planned.

The statement added: “The funding of National Associations through Uefa’s HatTrick programme was also discussed with Uefa reiterating its commitment to meeting the payments to member associations as planned.”