England coach Gareth Southgate fears changes to Euro 2020 format amid ongoing coronavirus pandemic

Tournament was delayed until summer 2021 due to the impact of Covid-19 across Europe

Arvind Sriram
Saturday 10 October 2020 06:42 EDT
Comments
(Getty Images)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

England manager Gareth Southgate said the format of next year's European Championship might have to be modified for it to take place successfully amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Euro 2020, initially scheduled from 12 June to 12 July this year in 12 cities across the continent, was pushed back to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic that shut down soccer in March.

As infections rise, questions linger over the feasibility of staging the showpiece event across several locations.

"You couldn't stand with any certainty and say the Euros will take place next year," Southgate told British media.

 "You couldn't stand with certainty and say it is going to take place in the format it is expected to.

"You hope the indications are that towards spring things might look a bit brighter, and I think generally those predictions have been fairly accurate."

London's Wembley stadium is set to host six matches, including the semi-finals and finals, and Southgate said England would have no problem stepping in if it was decided to cut the number of host nations.

"We would definitely be capable of hosting, we are due to host a lot of games at Wembley anyway, so I don't think that will change, but it really is an unknown what the format might end up looking like," he added.

England defeated Wales 3-0 in a friendly at Wembley earlier this week and will take on Belgium on Sunday and Denmark on Wednesday, with both Nations League games taking place under the Arch in London.

Reuters

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in