UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin is pleased with the unity that the European football world showed this week by postponing the European Championship for a year, although that decision will cost the European Football Association a lot of money.
“It is clear that UEFA will lose hundreds of millions of euros due to the displacement of the European Championship,” said Ceferin on Sunday in an interview with Welt am Sonntag.
“The European Championship is our flagship and by far our main source of income every four years. It is therefore clear that UEFA has made the greatest sacrifice,” said the chairman, who has some € 575 million in financial reserves with his organization.
The European Football Association decided on Tuesday to move the European Championship due to the corona virus from next summer to the summer of 2021. In this way, UEFA hopes to create space to finish the national and European club competitions this season.
The radical decision came after a conference call with the national federations, clubs, competitions and the international players’ union FIFPro, parties that often disagree or agree.
“I think that even the EU can lead by example in our crisis management,” says Ceferin. “We have a monetary union and open borders in Europe, but now, in times of crisis, there is mainly an individual and not a coordinated approach by the individual countries. That is a pity.”
Follow the latest developments around the virus in the sports world in us live blog.
The coronavirus in short
- The coronavirus mainly spreads through sneezing and cough drops. The virus can be transmitted directly from person to person or (for a limited time) through surfaces such as door handles.
- An infected person infects two to three others on average. Precautions are necessary to contain this.
- The vast majority of patients have mild (flu-like) complaints.
- Nearly all deaths involve the elderly or other frail, such as heart, lung or diabetes patients. If everyone complies with the measures, this reduces their risks.
- Read here what precautions you should take.
–
–
–
– .
