The football tournament is due to kick off in Rome, Italy, on June 12 and will be played in 12 different host cities across the continent.
However, whether it is safe, or in fact feasible, for UEFA to host such a tournament while the continent — and the world — struggles with the global pandemic, is the decision European football’s governing body has to take.
The majority of Europe’s top football leagues have already been suspended because of the virus and Italy, France and Spain have all introduced lockdown restrictions on millions of citizens as they try to lessen COVID-19’s impact.
Italy, in particular, is struggling to cope with the biggest outbreak of the virus outside of China and the president of the country’s football federation (FIGC) has urged UEFA to consider postponing Euro 2020.
Gabriele Gravina said domestic leagues and cup competitions should be completed before the international tournament begins and warned that other countries did not yet know the full extent of the problem.
Emergency meeting
European football’s governing body called for Tuesday’s meeting of all 55 individual federations to discuss the potential impact of the virus as governments stepped up their approaches in dealing with the crisis.
The meeting will be conducted by video conference and will involve the boards of the European Club Association, the European leagues and a representative of FIFPro, the players’ union.
The number of confirmed cases in Europe continues to rise with travel between nations being restricted.
Postponing Euro 2020 and staging the tournament in 2021 may be the only way for the various European leagues to complete their domestic season but canceling the tournament totally has not been ruled out either.
UEFA also has the headache of deciding what happens to this season’s European competitions — the Europa League and Champions League.
Those club competitions are currently in the knockout stages but both have been temporarily suspended.