October 24 – UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says the Euro finals, postponed until 2021 because of Covid-19, could be played with fans in stadiums across Europe but admits other scenarios are being explored.
“For the moment, we are planning the Euro exactly as we want it to be,” Ceferin told German broadcaster ARD when asked about fans attending games at the 12 host stadiums.
“Of course, I would have told you in February that the Euro would take place as normal with full stadiums this summer, but everything changed within a month.
“If you had asked me in February if I was prepared for a pandemic that would stop the world, I would have said you were crazy.
“But now we’re well prepared. We’re smarter and stronger than last year as we now know that anything can happen.”
However Ceferin said UEFA was “well prepared” to use different scenarios for the finals if necessary and, if necessary, that that 12 host venues could potentially be reduced.
“We’re not thinking about it at the moment, but we could implement different things.”
“We are considering how to do it with fans, without fans, or with 30, 50 or 70%. But theoretically, we could hold the Euro in 12 countries, in 11, in 10, in three countries or in one.”
For all kinds of logistical reasons, Ceferin has long expressed caution about a pan-European tournament, the brainchild of his predecessor Michel Platini as a one-off to mark the 60th anniversary of the competition.
“Symbolically (it’s) a nice thing, but not an easy task for us, even regardless of the pandemic,” he said. “I don’t think I would support that again.”
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