Lisbon (AFP)

UEFA hopes to finish the Champions League season "at the end of August", Aleksander Ceferin, president of the European football authority, confirmed in an interview published in a Portuguese newspaper on Wednesday.

"Our plan is to complete it by the end of August," the Slovenian leader told the sports daily Record, who asked him about the deadline for concluding the Champions League season, interrupted in March by the coronavirus pandemic.

"I think it will work (...). You never know what can happen but things seem to be calming down," he said.

"80% of the European championships will resume. I don't see why the Champions League and the Europa League should not take place," he said.

This scenario, already mentioned by UEFA but not officially confirmed, presumes to resume European competitions in early August, after the end of the national championships. Paris SG, qualified for the quarterfinals, and Lyon, who have yet to play their return knockout round against Juventus Turin (first leg: 1-0 victory), are particularly concerned.

UEFA has already advanced the date of 3 August as a possible deadline for finishing the national championships, at meetings with its member associations at the end of April.

Last week Aleksander Ceferin however clarified that it was a recommendation, "a provisional date, not official", in a letter addressed to Jean-Michel Aulas, president of Olympique lyonnais.

"Football has not changed after the Second World War or the First and will not change because of a virus," the UEFA boss said in an interview with Record, adding that it was convinced that Euro-2020, postponed by one year, would be played well next year.

"I don't see why it wouldn't play out. I don't think the virus will last forever ... We know more about the virus. I am optimistic," he said.

In another interview, published this time by the British newspaper The Guardian, Ceferin said he was also confident that supporters would return to the stadiums soon, while most championships expect a resumption in camera to avoid any contagion .

"I am absolutely sure, as an individual, that good old football with supporters will be back very soon," said the Slovenian leader.

© 2020 AFP