The Champions League and Europa League could be abandoned if coronavirus restrictions remain in place into September, according to Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin.
But Ceferin added that playing behind closed doors would be preferred to abandoning games. Champions League and Europa League matches are currently suspended until further notice.
“We can’t play it out in September or October,” Ceferin told ZDF Sportstudio.
When asked whether the season could be abandoned, he added: “If the authorities do not allow us to play, then we cannot play.”
Premier League clubs Manchester City and Chelsea are both still in the Champions League, while Manchester United, Wolves and Scottish Premiership side Rangers are all in the Europa League.
“The fact is that we really don’t know much,” Ceferin explained. “We are waiting for the development of this terrible situation in the world, and mainly in Europe.
“It is still better to play the game behind closed doors and have it on TV, which is what the people need and want because it brings positive energy to their homes, than not playing at all. That’s what the people want, that brings positive energy, and it will be July or August.”
The finals of the Champions League, Europa League and Women’s Champions League, all of which were scheduled for May, have already been postponed.
Meanwhile, the doctor of French soccer club Stade de Reims, Bernard Gonzalez, has died aged 60 after contracting the novel coronavirus, the Ligue 1 side said on Sunday.
“Words fail me, I am stunned by this news,” Stade de Reims president Jean-Pierre Caillot said in a statement on the club’s official website.
“This pandemic has shaken Stade de Reims to its core. A great character from Reims and a great sports professional has left us.”
The club said Gonzalez worked at Stade de Reims, who reached the first ever European Cup final in 1956, for 23 years. The mayor of Reims, Arnaud Robinet also paid tribute to Gonzalez.
“My thoughts are with his family and his wife. He is a collateral victim of COVID-19, because he had tested positive for it and was in quarantine,” he said.
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