Soccer

Italian FA to ask for Euro 2020 postponement

Priority is to complete Serie A season when football returns says federation president

Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Juventus in an empty stadium during the recent Serie A game against Inter Milan before the league was suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak. Photograph: Vincenzo Pinto/AFP via Getty Images

Sun Mar 15 2020 - 16:34

Italy’s football federation will ask for the Euro 2020 tournament to be postponed over the coronavirus outbreak in the hope of being able to complete the Serie A season, its president said on Sunday.

"We will propose to Uefa the delay of the European championship," Gabriele Gravina told the SportMediaset television channel, adding that, like Serie A, other leagues around Europe were also on hold.

“We will try to get to the end of this championship because it is fairer and more correct after the many investments and sacrifices of our clubs.”

Top-flight football across Europe has ground to a halt as a result of the spread of Covid-19, with national and continental club competitions suspended or postponed.

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Representatives of European clubs and leagues and the players will join national federations on an emergency video-conference call organised by Uefa on Tuesday. Discussions will include Euro 2020 which is due to take place in 12 European countries, including Italy, from June 12th to July 12th. Dublin’s Aviva stadium is due to hold three group games and a round of 16 clash.

Gravina said he hoped that Serie A could finish by June 30th, although he did not rule out extending it for another month.

He also suggested that Italian clubs should not train for the time being.

“If the league were to resume at the beginning of May, I would leave the question of training for the moment,” he said. “Let’s leave the boys at home, they have to recover physical and mental energy”.

CoronavirusGabriele Gravina