Member of the FIFA Council Evelina Christillin hinted the plan is to postpone Champions League and Europa League games until after the national leagues have been completed.
All of sport ground to a halt almost a month ago due to the coronavirus pandemic and it is still not clear when or how the 2019-20 season will resume.
It has been reported that the domestic competitions will be completed first, then the Champions League and Europa League, probably in a new format to play one-off games on neutral turf.
Member of the FIFA Council Evelina Christillin hinted the plan is to postpone Champions League and Europa League games until after the national leagues have been completed.
All of sport ground to a halt almost a month ago due to the coronavirus pandemic and it is still not clear when or how the 2019-20 season will resume.
It has been reported that the domestic competitions will be completed first, then the Champions League and Europa League, probably in a new format to play one-off games on neutral turf.
“Health and safety come first and foremost,” Christillin told Radio Punto Nuovo. “The top five big leagues want to conclude their campaign, but nobody intends to go over the heads of the Government or local authorities.”
Some clubs have been trying to resume training, only to be blocked by Government decrees, as in Italy players cannot be called in until at least May 4.
“It depends on the Governments in each country. In theory, it could be possible to resume training once this decree has expired, but I don’t know if it’ll be possible to do this all throughout Europe at the same time.
“I do know that there will be a video conference call on April 22 with all the representatives of the 55 UEFA Federations and the day after an Executive Committee meeting. That way, we’ll know what was shared and discussed with the Federations.”
It’s widely reported the idea for Serie A is to resume fixtures on May 31, playing every three days until July 12.
The Champions League and Europa League can then be completed by mid-August.
“There is a road map, as we are working with the ECA and UEFA. The priority is health, then resuming the season and finally concluding the European competitions for August.
“There is a very large and complicated problem regarding organisation, but President Gianni Infantino confirmed there will be help for those clubs who had economic problems during this period.”