European football’s governing body, UEFA, remains undecided on whether it will rename Euro 2020 after the tournament was postponed by 12 months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
A post sent from UEFA’s official Twitter account on Friday suggested the competitions would keep the name ‘Euro 2020’ despite the fact it will now take place in 2021. However, UEFA later apologized and said that was a mistake, adding the name is still a topic of debate.
Clubs on the continent have largely reacted well to the news that Europe’s premier international tournament would be pushed back by one year in the wake of the COVID-19 threat. Most of Europe’s major leagues have been suspended until late April or May for the time being, and the absence of Euro 2020—which was set to begin on June 12—gives associations more freedom to finish the 2019-20 campaign following their hiatus. Sports betting websites suspended all EURO 2020 markets, bonus offers and odds until further notice. For the best lines when betting on the matches resumes, make sure to check out BetOnline. It is estimated that NJ online sports books may lose up to 10 $million revenue due to this.
The coronavirus has been responsible for more than 11,000 deaths worldwide as of Friday evening. It became all the more difficult to envision Euro 2020 going ahead as planned considering it was due to be hosted across 12 different countries to celebrate its 60th anniversary.
Rome was due to be one of the host cities, but it was confirmed on Thursday that Italy’s COVID-19 death tally had risen to 3,405 people, overtaking China as the worst affected nation on the planet, per BBC News.
It seems more likely domestic leagues will be allowed to finish their 2019-20 seasons, though the campaign remains in doubt until organizers have more clarity on when the impact of the coronavirus will end.
Upon announcing that Euro 2020 would not take place until 2021, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said:
“The health of fans, staff and players has to be our number one priority and, in that spirit, UEFA tabled a range of options so that competitions can finish this season safely and I am proud of the response of my colleagues across European football. There was a real spirit of cooperation, with everyone recognizing that they had to sacrifice something in order to achieve the best result.”
It was also confirmed the 12 host cities will remain the same for the contest, with London, Bilbao, Dublin, Munich, Amsterdam and St. Petersburg among those set to offer their facilities.
The most straightforward suggestion appears to be that the next installment of the European Championships should simply be renamed Euro 2021.
