Football shuts
down with
unprecedented
worldwide
postponements
CHINA
The Chinese Super League, set to start on
February 22, was postponed indefinitely with
many clubs moving training camps to the Middle
East. The league is unlikely to restart before May.AFC
AFC Champions League group matches in
the eastern zone were postponed until April 7,
with the knockout stage delayed until August.
The first two rounds of group matches in West
Asia took place but subsequent rounds were
then postponed.
The World Cup qualifiers due to take place in
March and June have been postponed and are
not likely to be played until September and
October.ITALY
Serie A matches were suspended until April
3 after a Juventus player, Daniele Rugani,
became the league’s first player to test positive.
Before the postponement, a number of games,By the time you read this, Euro 2020 is likely to have been
delayed until later this year, or even next year.
It will be a major shock if the tournament has been
cancelled completely. Cash is king in modern football,
and the Euros generate most of UEFA’s disposable
income; in contrast, the Champions League may be a
money-driven competition, but most of its surplus is
channelled back to the competing clubs in prize money
and TV “market pool” payments.
Many of the smaller member
federations of UEFA, who make
up a political majority within the
organisation, rely heavily on
fi nancial support from the
continental governing body.
Ironically, the format of Euro 2020
was designed to spread football’s
wealth more equally around the
continent, from Baku to Bucharest.
But the pan-continental structure
has served only to aid the spread of coronavirus.
Whether football learns any lessons from this global
pandemic remains to be seen. The international calendar
is already stretched to breaking point, with UEFA and
FIFA on a collision course over plans for an expanded
Club World Cup next summer.
Will smaller clubs be compensated for loss of income
from postponed matches? Will fans be recompensed by
clubs and TV companies? It is supporters, after all, who
fund the game through their season tickets and TV
subscriptions. Perhaps everybody has to take a hit and
acknowledge that, in the future, less can be more.
Whatever happens to the remainder of the 2019-
season, some stories deserve to be recognised. Atalanta’s
passage to the quarter-fi nals of the Champions League is
no fl ash-in-the-pan tale (page 42). And much
has already been written
about teenager Erling
Haaland (page 48) but his
remarkable performances
demand further attention.Gavin Hamilton, Editor
Whether
football learns
any lessons
from this
global
pandemic
remains to
be seen
Deep clean...Ankaragucu’s
Eryaman Stadium in TurkeyTHE WORLD THIS MONTH