UEFA are working on plans to hold the Champions League final on August 29th.
When the competition was halted because of the coronavirus pandemic, four of the quarter finalists had already been decided, but the remaining second round of 16 ties had yet to be played.
Now various scenarios are being considered for completing the tournament. The first is to play both the quarter-finals and semi-finals, as originally planned, on a home and away basis, in July and August. Alternatively, matches could be played as one-legged affairs in a mini-tournament after domestic seasons have ended, possibly compressed into a one week time frame, at a neutral venue.
If the plans then work out, the Champions League Final will now take place on August 29th in Istanbul, with the Europa League final taking place three days later in Gdansk, Poland.
Finishing the Europa League is more problematic. All eight second leg last-16 ties are yet to be played, and for those matches involving Italian and Spanish teams, the first legs have yet to be staged as well.
All of these proposals will be discussed by UEFA at a meeting on April 23rd, where the various options for restarting league seasons across Europe will be discussed.
On the same day, the German Football League (DFL) will meet to talk about next steps for getting football back underway in their country. They are considering holding matches behind closed doors in a bid to conclude their season before June 30th, to avoid clubs forfeiting lucrative revenues from broadcasters. Most German teams have now returned to training, albeit in small groups.
UEFA has also warned leagues and clubs that have decided to end their seasons unilaterally. Belgium has already announced plans to end their season already, whilst Scottish clubs on Wednesday agreeing a compromise solution that would see their bottom three professional leagues considered as concluded. They also approved plans to declare the Scottish Premiership over if the season cannot be concluded in a reasonable time frame.
However, UEFA has threatened leagues and clubs that go down this route that they risk being excluded from European competitions next season.
