Uefa president warns season 'will be lost' if coronavirus shutdown does not end by late-June

"The three options are to start again in mid-May, in June or at the end of June."
REUTERS

Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has warned that the current football season will be “lost” if football cannot resumed by the end of June.

Almost all European leagues are currently suspended because of the coronavirus outbreak, which has also halted the Champions League and Europa League.

Uefa have postponed the summer’s European Championships until 2021 in order to give the domestic competitions the best possible chance of fulfilling their outstanding fixtures, but it may not be enough.

"If we don't succeed in restarting, the season will probably be lost," Ceferin told La Repubblica. "There is a plan A, B and C.

"The three options are to start again in mid-May, in June or at the end of June.

AP

"There is also the possibility of starting again at the beginning of the next [season], starting the following one later. We will see the best solution for leagues and clubs."

It seems increasingly likely that if football can restart it will – at least initially – be behind closed doors, an possibility Ceferin accepts.

"It's difficult to imagine all the games behind closed doors,” he said. “But right now we don't even know if we will resume, with or without fans.

"If there are no other alternatives, it would still be better to conclude the leagues. I can say that I'm not thinking about staging the European cup finals behind closed doors.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in