Europe’s football governing body UEFA has officially postponed the Champions League and Europa League finals due to the coronavirus outbreak.
UEFA who made the announcement in a statement released on Monday via their official website, stated that there are no date when it could be played.
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It also announced that Women’s Champions League final have been shifted.
The decision to postpone the finals was taken after a meeting of the European Clubs’ Association (ECA) which is trying to find a solution to the coronavirus crisis which has gripped football.
All three finals were due to be played in May and last week they put in place provisional dates of June 24 and 27.
But they now concede these are highly unlikely and there was discussion at the ECA whether to abandon them altogether.
The postponement means in reality that even UEFA have no idea when football will restart – but there is an acceptance the season will not be completed by the end of June which was their original target.
The ECA and a working group will now look at whether the finals should be abandoned completely and if they go ahead how they should be played with two legged ties likely to be made one-off games.
But next season’s Champions League also looks set to be changed significantly as there will be no time for qualifiers which start in July and the new European Cup could see a return to the old style knock-out ties.
The statement read: “As a result of the COVID-19 crisis in Europe, UEFA has today formally taken the decision to postpone the following matches, originally scheduled for May 2020:
UEFA Women’s Champions League Final
UEFA Europa League Final
UEFA Champions League Final
“No decision has yet been made on rearranged dates. The working group, established last week as a result of the conference call among the stakeholders of European football, which was chaired by UEFA President, Aleksander Čeferin, will analyse the options available. The group has already begun its examination of the calendar. Announcements will be made in due course.”
