Former SFA chief, Stewart Regan, has warned fans not to pin their hopes of a solution on Tuesday’s UEFA videoconference, as quoted by the Glasgow Times.
Representatives from 55 countries, including the SFA’s Ian Maxwell, will be involved in discussions as UEFA attempts to coordinate European football’s response to the coronavirus threat.
Among the topics thought to be up for discussion are potential restart dates for domestic league and European club competitions, a potential rescheduling of Euro 2020 and decisions on what happens in the event that domestic leagues are forced to conclude early.
However, while he doesn’t doubt that these things will be on the agenda, Regan believes those looking for answers by the end of today will be disappointed.
“Everybody will have an opinion, and it is going to be very difficult to co-ordinate and chair that meeting,” he said, as quoted by the Glasgow Times. “But knowing UEFA as I do, they wouldn’t make such a major decision without fully consulting and without fully thinking through the implications.”
“There won’t be a decision made on Tuesday. It will literally be the first step on a journey to try and put a plan together.
“I suspect there will be a few ideas floated, and UEFA will take those away and work them into a more detailed plan. UEFA will have to bounce those off FIFA, especially if it involves regulations around transfer windows, registration periods, loan players, contract extensions etc. All of those will need to be further consulted, perhaps including the European Clubs Association and FIFPRO.”
He went on to predict that it would be ‘a few days’ or ‘perhaps a couple of weeks’ before final decisions became clear.
Verdict
This is a time of great uncertainty for all of those connected to the game, from players and managers to broadcasters.
There are clearly more important things than football during a global health pandemic, but there’s an understandable expectation from supporters that decisions be made to provide clarity.
After his seven-year stint as chief executive of the SFA, Regan is certainly well placed to comment on the inner workings of both the national and European bodies, and his thoughts here provide some perspective.
Given the scale of the challenge and the fact that so many will be affected by decisions, it is unrealistic to expect Tuesday’s UEFA videoconference to provide all the answers.
Perhaps the best that can be hoped for by the end of the day is an idea of the direction in which talks are headed or greater clarity on the proposals currently on the table.
Then, the waiting game will resume.
