“As far as the Euro is concerned nothing has changed,” a
spokesperson for European football’s governing body told AFP.
Postponed last year, Euro 2020 is now scheduled to go ahead
from June 11 to July 11 this year.
However, even if it does go ahead, it is uncertain whether
it will be possible to stage the tournament as planned in 12 cities across 12
different countries, spread far and wide over the continent.
“Given the health situation, personally I think that the
original idea of a competition spread all over Europe has little chance of
going ahead,” Dominique Blanc, head of the Swiss Football Association, said in
an interview with Swiss media this week.
The semi-finals and final are due to be played in London,
but England is currently in lockdown as it grapples with an upsurge in
infections related to a new variant of the Covid-19 virus.
The UEFA source told AFP that a decision will be made “city
by city” by March 5 with four options on the table: “100 percent of spectators
in the stadium, between 50 and 100 percent, between 20 and 30 percent, or
behind closed doors.”
In recent days the Formula One Australian and Chinese Grand
Prix were both postponed, while a prestigious World Cup skiing event at Wengen
in Switzerland was called off due to increasing Covid-19 cases in the area.
Meanwhile, the European Champions and Challenge Cups in
rugby union have been put on hold after the French government said the Covid-19
variant in Britain made it too risky for its clubs to face opponents from the
United Kingdom.
The UEFA Champions League knockout stages are due to begin
with the opening last 16, first legs on February 16.
Calls are growing in some quarters for athletes to be given
priority access to vaccinations, but UEFA insist “it is too early to make any
decision” regarding a new medical protocol for its competitions.
In his interview, Swiss FA chief Blanc floated two possible
solutions for the Euro, with one being to hold the tournament in one country,
“in Russia or in Germany, for example”.
Another would be to repeat the format for the closing stages
of last year’s Champions League in Lisbon by bringing all teams together to
play games in one city “with enough stadiums to host all six groups. That could
be the case of London.”
In any case, he said, “we are heading towards a different
Euro, undoubtedly without fans”.