UEFA Postpones Euro 2020 to 2021 and Will Reschedule the Women’s Euros

On Tuesday, March 17th, UEFA announced that it would be postponing Euro 2020 to 2021.

This was done in response to the ongoing coronavirus crisis, as the pandemic has led to the suspensions and cancellations of many football related events.

The purported new dates for the tournament are June 11th to July 11th of next year. If these dates are affirmed, then that would mean the tournament will run head first into the women’s Euros, which were also scheduled for that summer.

The women’s Euros were to have been played from July 7th to August 1st. The tournament will also be held in England. England also happens to be one of the host countries for the men’s Euros.

UEFA’s president, Aleksander Čeferin, has realized that the scheduling could lead to a conflict of interest. He’s also stated that the women’s Euro’s will be rescheduled so that they won’t be “cannibalized” by the men’s tournament.

Early speculation says that the women’s tournament will be rescheduled to 2022. However, no formal decision on the matter will be made until the summer.

2022 is also a World Cup year, but the men’s World Cup will be held in the winter. That leaves the summer free for the women.

Opinions are divided on whether or not to hold the tournament in 2021 or 2022. There are some who feel it should be held the same year the men’s tournament will be held. One such group is the Norwegian Football Association, who have even sent a letter to UEFA asking that it be held during the same year.

Currently, Italy are on course to qualify for the women’s Euros. They are on top of Group B, as they have won all of their qualification games thus far.

At the moment, their remaining qualifying matches have been postponed. To date, all competitive and friendly competitions in Europe have been suspended by UEFA.

The AC Milan women have been instrumental in securing qualification for the tournament. Valentina Giacinti both assisted and scored during their first qualifying match against Israel. Valentina Bergmaschi played the full 90 minutes for both of Italy’s matches against Israel and Georgia.

Laura Fusetti also played the full 90 minutes in Italy’s last qualifying match against Malta.

The postponement of all competitions means we’ll have to wait a little while longer to see them all in action again.

If there is any consolation to the current crisis we are suffering through, it’s that we’ll eventually get to see these players play again.

The sole silver lining that outlines this dark, suffocating cloud, is that we might have two summers worth of football to look forward to.

And that my friends, is a reason to keep on living.