Euro 2020 was postponed for a year due to the disruption linked to COVID-19. Although the name has changed to Euro 2021, the tournament is poised to happen in the summer of 2021 despite the fact that coronavirus is still a major threat across Europe.
UEFA’s continental tournament happens to be an eagerly anticipated event, and there are questions on whether it will go down this year with COVID-19 still raging. To find out whether Euro 2021 will be postponed or cancelled again, read on.
What is Going to Happen With Euro 2021?
What are UEFA Executives Saying?
According to UEFA executives, the delayed Euro 2020 is expected to go ahead as planned in the summer of 2021. However, Euro bosses are leaving themselves a get-away clause saying that if the virus gets out of control, they might be forced to make last-minute changes.
The long-awaited Euro final was set to take place at Wembley Stadium, and that has not changed. As the pandemic holds sway across Europe, the viability of this 12-nation tournament is under question.
After hosting a virtual meeting with the 12 planned host nations, Aleksander Ceferin, UEFA President, asserted that there is no plan to alter the current schedule: “UEFA will be holding EURO 2021 in the originally planned 12 cities.
According to UEFA boss, the Euros is a flagship tournament for national football teams and a critical source of capital for grassroots football development.
What’s in for Football Gamblers?
The Euros is a great deal for the football betting industry. If you would love to place wagers on Euro 2021 games, there are many football betting sites you can work with. To explore some of the best football betting sites, find great deals here.
The Euros is such a massive sports event, and a magnet for impressive betting offers. During this tournament, the majority of bookmakers go out of their way to offer the finest promotions and bonuses to get fans betting with them.
Some of the deals you can get for Euro 2021 betting are curated odds requests. You can tweet at the bookmaker’s page, the special bet you want to place, including accumulator top-ups, odds boosts, and cashback in the event of draws. Some of the best betting houses reward football betting loyalty with free bets.
Will Euro 2021 Go Ahead?
With the continent struggling to contain the pandemic and the infection rates still soaring, it is difficult to imagine that this championship will go ahead as originally planned. The truth is the Euro 2020 was premeditated as a one-off multi-national tournament to commemorate its diamond anniversary, with multiple nations hosting the games.
With the current COVID-19 threat, multiple travel routes for players, fans, media, and staff will exacerbate the infection rates. With high infection and mortality rates, it is most likely that stadiums won’t be filled to capacity this summer as has been the norm.
However, with the ongoing COVID-19 vaccine rollout, probably not all games will be played and watched behind closed doors. Word is already circulating that stadiums will be open for the masses. Fans will, however, have to get vaccinated before travelling for Euro 2021.
Speculations From Industry Experts
Over the last few weeks, there have been suggestions that Euro 2021 might switch to four, two, or one nation. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Bayern Munich’s owner, even floated the idea that the tournament might take place entirely in London.
The chair of the United Kingdom Digital Culture Media and Sports committee expressed his doubts on whether Euro 2021 will go ahead as originally planned: “I’m beginning to doubt whether the summer rescheduled Euro 2021 will be executed as planned across twelve nations.”
According to the official schedule, Wembley Stadium will be hosting a total of seven games, among them being the semi-finals and finals.
The Consequences of Further Changes
Delaying the tournament again or scrapping it all together will be financially disastrous, but UEFA will definitely have to restructure its plan for the finals scheduled for summer. Although unlikely, there are sources claiming that the championship will take place behind closed doors and in a single city instead of the planned 12.
We are likely to see a repeat of what happened with the Europa League and the Champions League last season, where strictly-enforced bubbles were implemented for every competing national team in a single country. The Champions League was hosted in Portugal, while the Europa League was hosted in Germany.
None of the listed hosts have shown an intention to withdraw so far, and UEFA is open to facing weighty compensation claims if it were to make any changes. The listed host cities were instructed to draft ideal plans for the optimum capacity of their stadiums with COVID-19 precaution measures in place.
With the growing unease, the city plans might not be required by the start of April. UEFA conceded, in a statement, that it recognizes the need for more flexibility around the issue of arrangements for Euro 2021 in a bid to reflect the varying circumstances and challenges facing cities.
A New Light of Hope
In spite of all the uncertainties, there is hope with the COVID-19 vaccine being rolled out for the general masses across the world. Ceferin was also quick to note that he is optimistic that things around the pandemic would change for the better as we approach the tournament. The UEFA boss also added that we should allow host cities and nations sufficient time to formulate an accurate image of what June and July will be like.
Fans are part of what renders football such as special and thrilling sport, and this applies to the Euro tournament as much as any other football tournament. UEFA should allow itself the maximum space and time to allow fans to return to the stadiums.
Final Thought
More details on how host nations will execute the Euro 2021 plan come summer are to be made available right around this time, the beginning of March, according to UEFA. As we wait to receive the new plan, Euro 2021 matches are currently set to happen in London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Munich, Glasgow, Rome, Baku, Copenhagen, Budapest, St Petersburg and Bucharest.
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