More details have been published by UEFA following today’s videoconference involving all 55 member nations as European football looks to respond to the global health pandemic.
It emerged this afternoon that UEFA had taken the major decision to prioritise domestic competition over internationals by postponing Euro 2020 until the summer of 2021.
Then, just after 5 pm, a joint resolution signed by UEFA, the European Club Association, European Leagues and FIFPRO Europe ‘on the principles of a contingency plan regarding the 2019-20 season’ was released.
This confirmed a ‘commitment to complete all domestic and European club competitions by the end of the current sporting season, i.e. 30 June 2020 at the latest, should the situation improve and resuming playing be appropriate and prudent enough’ [UEFA.com].
It means that at the present time, the plan is to restart the Scottish Premiership and for Rangers to play their remaining nine fixtures.
However, the final point under the ‘Club Competition’ section acknowledged it was possible that domestic campaigns could run over the deadline.
In that instance, there could be ‘adaptations’ to the qualifying rounds of the 2020/21 Europa League and Champions Leagues.
As it’s dependant on the final Scottish Premiership standings and Scotland’s final coefficient ranking, it’s not yet known which of these two competitions the Gers will be competing in.
What does seem clear, though, is that if domestic competitions run until or even beyond 30th June, some significant alterations may be required.
For context, Rangers began this season’s Europa League qualification campaign with a first-round fixture away to St Joseph’s of Gibraltar on 9th July.
Therefore, if a similar schedule was followed this time around, there could only be a few days between the end of the 2019/20 campaign and the beginning of the next.
It’s encouraging to see that UEFA have identified this potential problem and are prepared to make changes to avoid it, should the time come, thus ensuring that Rangers and other clubs in Europe will have at least some kind of tangible break between seasons.
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