TheCable

The Euro 2020 has been postponed until next year as the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc on the footballing calendar.

The Norwegian Football Association announced this on Tuesday via Twitter.

“UEFA has decided that the European Championship is postponed to 2021. It will be played from 11 June to 11 July next year. More information coming,” it wrote.

UEFA har bestemt at EM utsettes til 2021. Det skal spilles fra 11. juni til 11. juli neste år. Mer informasjon kommer.

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— NorgesFotballforbund (@nff_info) March 17, 2020

The championship was initially expected to have been held this year from June 12, to July 12, across 12 countries, including England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

UEFA, Europe’s football governing body, will now give up the summer dates of the tournament to allow national leagues that have been suspended because of the coronavirus outbreak to be completed.

Aleksander Ceferin, UEFA president, had led a conference call on Tuesday from his home in Slovenia, which included leaders of trade bodies for the top leagues and the clubs, as well as representatives from the global players’ union, FIFPro.

This was followed by a second call with officials from Europe’s 55 national federations — many of which are heavily reliant on the money UEFA generates largely from the tournament.

The decision to postpone was finally reached via an exchange of emails between members of UEFA’s executive committee.

The development comes days after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) had postponed the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers until further notice due to concerns about COVID-19.

Last week, UEFA also shifted all this week’s Champions League and Europa League fixtures while the English Premier League matches were suspended until April 4, due to coronavirus.