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UEFA announced on Tuesday that it had invited “various stakeholders” to discuss their collective response to the ongoing outbreak of the coronoavirus across Europe. This follows in the wake of the suspension of Serie A, a series of high-profile “ghost games” played in empty stadiums, and the first confirmed cases of the disease on professional soccer teams, including Juventus Turin’s Daniele Rugani and Hannover 96’s Timo Hubers and Jannes Horns.
In the light of ongoing developments in the spread of Covid-19, UEFA has invited various stakeholders to discuss European football’s response to the outbreak.
— UEFA (@UEFA) March 12, 2020
Discussions will include all domestic and European competitions, including UEFA EURO 2020.
Full statement:
Several media outlets, including L’Equipe, report that UEFA will announce that it will postpone EURO 2020 one year, until 2021, so that the Champions League and Europa League may conclude instead this summer. Both competitions will be suspended until further notice.
FIFA will have to approve the measure, and there will be further ramifications throughout the sport. Currently, the new Club World Cup was being planned for summer 2021.
As for the Bundesliga itself, the German federation has so far resisted calls to suspend the season, but that position may change as the crisis worsens and neighboring leagues suspend operations. The players of Hannover 96 have just been placed in home-bound quarantine. It is hard to imagine the 2.Bundesliga proceeding without them.