Europe’s continental competition will begin after a year long delay in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico with Italy taking on Turkey this Friday evening at 8pm.
The event hosted by eleven cities across Europe including Glasgow and London was due to take place last year.
However, Covid-19 meant UEFA were forced to delay the tournament by a year in order to ensure the safety of everyone participating in the event.
But while the date has changed, the name still remains Euro 2020.
So why is the tournament called Euro 2020? And not 2021?
Why is it Euro 2020? Not 2021?
UEFA have decided to continue to call the tournament Euro 2020 and not Euro 2021 for a few reasons.
The organisation’s official explanation was along the lines of: “to keep the vision of the competition.”
Though, there have been other pressing concerns too.
Even before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the shores of Europe, UEFA had already prepared and manufactured a multitude of merchandising well in advance of the tournament with the original ‘Euro 2020’ logo on it.
In order to save sending all the Euro 2020 merchandise to waste or to make them into rare collector items, it makes sense to stick with the original Euro 2020 name.
Even if it may cause some confusion.
Changing the name would have been a costly endeavour for UEFA, who confirmed this in an official statement: “This choice is in line with UEFA’s commitment to make UEFA EURO 2020 sustainable and not to generate additional amounts of waste. A lot of branded material had already been produced by the time of the tournament’s postponement. A name change for the event would have meant the destruction and reproduction of such items.”
Whether it’s Euro 2020 or Euro 2021, the name will have no bearing on what promises to be an exciting tournament ahead.
Who do you think will win Euro 2020?
