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 C1 season, which was interrupted in March by the coronavirus pandemic.
Quarters in a heat before a Final Four in Istanbul to finish the C1? via @ 20minutesSport https://t.co/J4eMQGrKAL
- 20 Minutes Sport (@ 20minutesSport) May 19, 2020"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 do not see why the Champions League and the Europa League should not take place. "
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. The European football authority has already advanced the date of August 3 as a possible deadline to end the national championships, during meetings with its member associations in late 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.
Optimistic for supporters
"Football has not changed after World War II 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 he shouldn't be playing. 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.
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