The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) see no reasons for changing the timetable of the 2020 Euro Cup in view of the current reports on the novel coronavirus global spread, the UEFA press service announced in a statement to TASS on Tuesday, Trend reports.
Italian daily Tuttosport reported earlier that international football federations asked the European governing football body to change the timeframe of the 2020 Euro Cup since some of the European countries’ national tournaments had been suspended due to the situation with the novel coronavirus.
"EURO 2020 will kick off on 12th June 2020 in Rome," the UEFA’s statement reads. "UEFA is in touch with the relevant international and local authorities regarding the Coronavirus and its development."
"There is no need to change anything in the planned timetable. The issue will be kept under constant scrutiny," the UEFA’s statement added.
The matches of the 2020 Euro Cup are scheduled to be held between June 12 and July 12, 2020 at stadiums in 12 different cities across Europe, namely in London (England), Munich (Germany), Rome (Italy), Baku (Azerbaijan), Saint Petersburg (Russia), Bucharest (Romania), Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Dublin (Ireland), Bilbao (Spain), Budapest (Hungary), Glasgow (Scotland) and Copenhagen (Denmark).
A decision to hold the 2020 Euro Cup, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, in various European countries instead of in one or two hosting countries was made at the UEFA Executive Committee’s meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, on December 6, 2012.
On December 31, 2019, the Chinese authorities reported to the World Health Organization about an outbreak of pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan, an economic and industrial megalopolis with a population of 11 million.
The virus was identified on January 7 as 2019-nCoV. As of today, 115 countries and territories, including Russia, have reported confirmed coronavirus cases.
The World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern, characterizing it as an epidemic with multiple locations. WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated on February 11 that the organization gave the novel coronavirus an official name of COVID-19.
According to the latest reports, over 116,460 cases of patients infected with the novel coronavirus have been confirmed worldwide. The virus’ death toll has reached 4,091, yet more than 64,750 patients have recovered from the disease.