UEFA have told their 55 member nations that they are hoping to complete all club fixtures left to play in the 2019-20 season before June 30, after confirming the postponement of the European Championships.
The decision, announced today, to push back this summer's competition until the summer of 2021 will come as good news for the likes of Nottingham Forest, Leeds United and West Brom in their hopes to win promotion to the Premier League.
There are nine games left to play until the Championship season is concluded and, without Euro 2020, squads can remain at full strength throughout the summer with plenty of time to complete their fixtures.
This will of course depend on whether or not the current situation and the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) improves and resuming playing be "appropriate and prudent enough".
On club competitions, UEFA have said the following:
- A commitment to complete all domestic and European club competitions by the end of the current sporting season, i.e. 30 June 2020 at the latest, should the situation improve and resuming playing be appropriate and prudent enough.
- Possible limitations or drops of current exclusive calendar slots, potentially resulting in the scheduling of domestic league matches in mid-week and scheduling of UEFA club competitions matches on weekends.
- Possible adaptations of the 2020/21 UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds in case of late completion of the 2019/20 sporting season, i.e. after 30 June 2020.
It is understood that members from the top six Championship clubs met on Monday and were unanimous in their desire to see the season played out before the 2020-21 campaign can begin - and reports have now suggested that the rest of the division has joined them in their stand.
The EFL Board will meet tomorrow with a further statement expected.
Sabri Lamouchi's side are currently fifth in the second division, eleven points behind league leaders Leeds in the race for promotion and ten behind West Brom.
The Reds still have Fulham, Derby County and Stoke City to play, amongst others, in what promises to be a unique end to the league season.
