UEFA asks governments to ensure Euro 2020 goes ahead

London: UEFA, governing body for football in Europe, is asking governments across the continent to ensure the European Championship goes ahead in three months despite the coronavirus outbreak.

Based on advice received from the World Health Organization, UEFA believes a city can host Euro 2020 games if it has the medical infrastructure to treat COVID-19 patients while still providing the necessary facilities to cope with tens of thousands of fans, a person with knowledge of the planning told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private planning conversations.

UEFA is using 12 stadiums in 12 nations for this unique pan-European tournament, which provides flexibility to give a city additional games if another is prevented from doing so due to the coronavirus. UEFA would remove games from a city if necessary to ensure the 24-team tournament can go ahead, the person said.

UEFA said reports that European football federations had requested that the 24-team tournament is moved to next year were “completely untrue." "“UEFA has had no requests to move or cancel the tournament,”" the governing body told the AP.

Officials from European football's governing body have been working with the WHO to form a plan to mitigate the risks from the COVID-19 disease across the 12 countries due to stage games.

We are closely monitoring the situation and are in contact with the World Health Organisation and national authorities regarding COVID-19 and its development, it said.