Juventus Player Tests Positive for Coronavirus

The unprecedented disruptions have led to the possibility of solutions that have long been opposed by domestic leagues, including the prospect of playing Champions League and Europa League games on weekends. For years, domestic leagues have fiercely guarded those days for themselves, drawing a red line that European officials dared not cross.

As recently as last year, the European Club Association, a trade body that represents Europe’s top leagues, reacted with fury when it was suggested that some Champions League games should be played on Saturdays and Sundays as part of a reform of the competition.

“We will always protect our weekends,” the European Leagues deputy general secretary Alberto Colombo said last year when European soccer’s governing body, UEFA, and several top clubs first raised the possibility. “We will not allow European club competition to be played on weekends.”

In the current climate, though, and amid the need for practical solutions, such intransigence is likely to be tested. While discussions about the reforms are continuing, they have been usurped by more pressing concerns about finishing the current club seasons, which had been scheduled to end in May, in time for the quadrennial European championship.

Now, a working group that includes representatives from UEFA and a delegation from the leagues has been set up to exchange information about ways to play the growing backlog of games. The next official discussion is set for Thursday. Nothing is off the table, according to a person familiar with the discussions, including weekend European matches and eliminating home-and-away ties — replacing them with single-elimination matches at closed or neutral venues — in this year’s competition.

UEFA declined to comment on the talks, as did the European Club Association.

But at UEFA’s congress last week, when officials from Europe’s 55 nations met, the virus dominated discussions. UEFA’s secretary general, Theo Theodoridis, said at the meeting that the leagues and UEFA may need to be “flexible” in overcoming the calendar crunch.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/sports/soccer/juventus-coronavirus-champions-league.html