Chronology: UEFA response to COVID-19 pandemic
Thursday, July 9, 2020
Article summary
Overview: all the decisions taken by UEFA, in collaboration with the wider European football community, to guide our sport's response to its toughest challenge.
Article top media content
Article body
9 July: Venues for Round of 16 matches confirmed
It was confirmed all remaining 2019/20 UEFA club competition matches will be played behind closed doors, with UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League Round of 16 second-leg matches to take place in the home teams' own stadiums.
The UEFA Return to Play Protocol, setting out the framework of sanitary and hygiene-related procedures, was also approved.
18 June: Temporary FFP measures, transfer window proposal
Temporary measures for finanical fair play regulations, the call for a harmonised summer transfer window and the confirmation of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying draw procedure are among the outcomes.
17 June: UEFA competitions to resume in August
The UEFA Executive Committee confirms format, calendar and venues for a variety of UEFA club and national team competitions, including the latter stages of the 2019/20 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. All 12 UEFA EURO 2020 host cities also confirmed and new match schedule approved.
UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin: "I am delighted that we are able to resume almost all of our competitions. I am confident that we will not have to endure the fans' absence for long and that they will be allowed into stadiums sooner rather than later."
The key principles of the UEFA medical protocol are also approved, with detailed guidelines to be finalised over the next few weeks to ensure that a thorough sanitary plan be put in place to protect the health of all participants to UEFA matches when the competitions resume.
23 April: Executive Committee approves guidelines on eligibility for participation in UEFA competition
Calendar updates
Updates on the Working Groups established in partnership with the European Club Association (ECA), European Leagues (EL) and FIFPRO Europe. The Calendar Working Group is examining two scenarios:
- Both envisage domestic football starting before UEFA club competitions
- One seeks to run the competitions in parallel and another to complete domestic matches before re-starting UEFA matches in August
EURO 2020
Following the postponement of UEFA EURO 2020 to the summer of 2021, the Executive Committee decides that the tournament will still be known as UEFA EURO 2020.
23 April: UEFA Women's EURO to take centre stage in summer 2022
The postponed UEFA Women's EURO 2021 will be played in England from 6 to 31 July 2022. Same venues planned that were originally proposed to host the event.
16 April: UEFA Executive Committee to meet next week
The UEFA Executive Committee to meet via videoconference on 23 April for an update meeting to discuss the latest developments regarding the impact caused by the coronavirus outbreak on European football. Meeting will follow an information session for the General Secretaries of UEFA's 55 member associations on 21 April.
1 April: UEFA postpones all June national team matches
All national team matches for men and women due to be played in June 2020 are postponed until further notice. This includes the play-off matches for UEFA EURO 2020 and qualifying matches for UEFA Women's EURO 2021.
All other UEFA competition matches, including the centralised international friendly matches, remain postponed until further notice.
Other decisions:
- Youth national team competitions updates
- UEFA Futsal Champions League finals scheduled for April 2020 are postponed until further notice
- Deadlines related to all 2020/21 UEFA club competitions are postponed until further notice
- Club licensing and financial fair play commitment and updates
30 March: UEFA to meet General Secretaries of National Associations
Meeting to look at developments across all UEFA national team and club competitions, as well as discussing progress at FIFA and European level on matters such as player contracts and the transfer system.
23 March: UEFA club finals postponed
As a result of the COVID-19 crisis in Europe, UEFA formally decides to postpone matches originally scheduled for May 2020:
- UEFA Women's Champions League final
- UEFA Europa League final
- UEFA Champions League final
20 March: Postponement of UEFA futsal competitions
In light of developments due to the spread of COVID-19 in Europe and the related travelling restrictions imposed by governments, a number of futsal tournaments and upcoming events are postponed until further notice.
17 March: Resolution of the European football family on a coordinated response to the impact of the COVID-19 on competitions
UEFA, the European Club Association, European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe sign a resolution on how European football should react to the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
17 March: UEFA postpones EURO 2020 by 12 months
UEFA announces the postponement of its flagship national team competition, UEFA EURO 2020, due to be played in June and July this year. The health of all those involved in the game is the priority, as well as to avoid placing any unnecessary pressure on national public services involved in staging matches. The move will help all domestic competitions, currently on hold due to the COVID-19 emergency, to be completed.
All UEFA competitions and matches (including friendlies) for clubs and national teams for both men and women are put on hold until further notice.
15 March: all this week's scheduled UEFA club competitions matches postponed
All UEFA club competitions matches scheduled for the coming week are postponed.
This includes the remaining UEFA Champions League round of 16 second legs scheduled for 17 and 18 March; all UEFA Europa League round of 16 second legs scheduled for 19 March; and all UEFA Youth League quarter-final matches scheduled for 17 and 18 March.
UEFA invites representatives of its 55 member associations, together with the boards of the European Club Association and the European Leagues and a representative of FIFPro, to a video conference meeting on Tuesday 17 March to discuss European football's response to the COVID-19 outbreak.
