Euro 2020 Decision on Tuesday

The chances of Euro 2020 taking place as planned between June 12th and July 12th look to be receding. UEFA is to hold a special meeting, by video conference on Tuesday where clubs from the main leagues and player representative bodies will also be part of the discussion.
The Premier League clubs are meeting in emergency session today but it is hard to believe that they will carry on with a programme of football bringing large crowds together and exposing players and staff to the Coronavirus. Chelsea and Arsenal have confirmed overnight that one player and Mikael Arteta the Arsenal Manager have the virus and both teams are now in self-isolation, along with the players of Leicester city.
With infection at that level among such a small subset of the population, the prospect of carrying on as normal, which has been the policy of the British Government, seems reckless and dangerous.
Cheltenham has come under fierce criticism but the actions of the Champions’ League game going ahead with 3,000 fans from Madrid in the ground is possibly even harder to look back on as being in any way the right thing to do.
The UEFA meeting will have to consider a number of options.
What we know or can surmise at this moment in time is that Bosnia Herzegovina and Slovakia have asked for a deferral of their Qualifier ties against Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This will be granted. Slovakia has already closed its borders so the only alternative would be to award the game to Mick McCarthy’s side but that would simply not be right.
The tournament is scheduled to take place across twelve cities, opening in Rome, and involving the movement of millions of fans and officials.
Football is important but contrary to Bill Shankly’s famous words it is not more important than life or death.
It would require a miracle for Europe to be back in a state of full normality within the time needed.
Even if it does get back to normal within a month there will be pressure to prioritise the completion of domestic Leagues and UEFA club competitions, when postponement of the Euro’s would be a much easier option.
It is most likely that this would take place in the same window of 2021 with matters including the staging of the Euro 2021 Women’s Championships, taking place fully in England, as well as FIFA World Cup Qualifiers, needing to be managed with respect for those competitions. Running the Men’s and Women’s competition finals back to back would be logistically possible and while not ideal in terms of deflecting attention that would otherwise have been solely on the Women’s tournament, it looks to be the easiest option.
Another option would be to contain the tournament in a single country but that would be a far bigger logistical exercise and also deprive countries like Ireland of the right to host probably the biggest sporting event we will ever have the chance to see on our home shores.
Questions over ticketing and whether refunds will be made and a whole new lottery put in place for the revised dates will also have to be considered, given the time that may elapse between the original and the potential rescheduled dates.
There are a thousand things to consider and that is only the start. But the human mind is capable of solving far more complex problems and this will get done in a way that is collectively agreed on.
St Patrick’s Day was to have been about the Parades. Now it will be about the future of the Euro’s.