The Euro 2020 and Copa America, two of the most important events on the sport’s calendar, were scheduled for this summer but will now be moved to 2021 because of the coronavirus outbreak.
The European Championship, second only to the World Cup in importance and value in international soccer, will be postponed until 2021, tournament organizers decided on Tuesday.
Hours later, the organizers of the Copa América, South America’s continental championship, which was scheduled to run concurrently with the Euros, announced that they would do the same, moving their event — set for Argentina and Colombia this summer — back a year.
The move by the governing body for soccer in Europe, UEFA, will clear the month of summer dates blocked out for the tournament, known as Euro 2020, and could allow national leagues that have been suspended because of the coronavirus outbreak to complete their seasons.
“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,” UEFA’s president, Aleksandr Ceferin, said. “It is at times like these, that the football community needs to show responsibility, unity, solidarity and altruism.”
Officials from Conmebol, the South American confederation that organizes the Copa América, said they had made the decision to delay their championship to try to avoid the spread of the coronavirus, which is already present in several of its member countries.
“It has not been easy to make this decision,” Conmebol said in a statement, “but we must safeguard at all times the health of our athletes and of all the agents who are part of the great family of South American football.”
SOURCE: nytimes.com
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