UEFA postpones Euro 2020 soccer cup by 1 year

GENEVA — This year’s European Championship for soccer is postponed for one year because of the coronavirus outbreak.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says the spreading virus currently “makes football and all life in Europe quite impossible.”

The tournament is now scheduled to be played from next June 11 to July 11.

The UEFA executive committee makes the decision after hosting a video conference call with its 55 national member federations.

The European Championship final typically attracts a broadcast audience of 300 million worldwide and made UEFA a profit of 830 million euros ($912 million) four years ago.

“Moving Euro 2020 comes at a huge cost for UEFA,” Ceferin says in a statement.

The decision is taken during an intense day of talks with member federations and the leaders of European club soccer, which is in a near-total shutdown.

It is still far from clear when the public health crisis could ease enough for European soccer to resume. Still, taking Euro 2020 off the calendar clears valuable weeks in which domestic leagues and cups, and the Champions League and Europa League, could be completed.

— AP