UEFA hopes to end 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 don't see why the Champions League and the Europa League should not take place"
"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. 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. PSG is also still racing in this competition.
Ceferin "optimistic" for the Euro in 2021
"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.