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UEFA president Ceferin sees scrapping season as a serious option NOW

UEFA has several scenarios ready to resume the competitions once the corona pandemic is resolved. Nevertheless, chairman Aleksander Ceferin also takes into account that the 2019/2020 season may have to be considered lost.

“In this dramatic situation, the health of the population is the most important. We need to see how we can overcome this corona crisis,” said Ceferin in an interview with the Italian newspaper on Saturday. La Repubblica.

Once that is successful, UEFA wants to resume the Champions League and Europa League. “We have a plan A, B and C ready, but we currently don’t know when this pandemic will be over. We are in daily contact with leagues and clubs, but we can only wait, just like any other sector.”

UEFA previously decided to postpone next summer’s European Championship to make room for the national competitions to end the season. For the time being, the curve with the number of infections continues to rise steadily in most European countries.

“Maybe we can start in mid-May, or in mid-June or late June,” Ceferin looks ahead. “But if that doesn’t work, we should probably consider this season as lost.”

However, the Slovenian still has an alternative. “We can also finish the season after the summer before we start the new one. But then we have to agree on that with all competitions.”

Champions League final without an audience not an option

At the beginning of the corona outbreak, some matches in the Champions League and Europa League were finished without an audience. That is not an option for the finals of both tournaments, says Ceferin.

“I don’t want to think about a CL final behind closed doors. Now we don’t even know when we can play again, with or without an audience. If there is no other alternative, then we should end the season.”

Ceferin disagrees with UEFA’s criticism of Atalanta-Valencia

UEFA has received a lot of criticism in recent days about the continuation of the Champions League games between Atalanta and Valencia. Experts indicate that the duel is the seat of the pandemic in Italy and Spain.

Ceferin disagrees with that criticism. “The game in Valencia was played without an audience. The fact that many people gathered outside the stadium is the responsibility of the Spanish police,” said the UEFA chairman.

“The criticism of the game in Italy is crazy. That was on February 19, when no one could see that the Lombardy region would become the center of the corona outbreak in Europe. Who are we to cancel that game? The authorities are in charge. “

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The coronavirus in short

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