At Fútbol Emotion, we live for football and we make our living from football, but above all, we thrive on YOUR PASSION for the sport. That’s why we simply have to trust that everything will turn out all right and that, in a few weeks’ time, we’ll be able to get back to doing what we love most: playing football, supporting our teams and enjoying watching our idols. For the moment, there are still many uncertainties about the state of football when all this is over. UEFA has already announced that the EURO will be held in the summer of 2021, as has CONMEBOL with the Copa América. The main uncertainties now centre on competitions such as the Champions League, which has a new official ball from adidas for this edition, as well as the Europa League and the other domestic leagues.
HOW WILL THE COVID-19 AFFECT FOOTBALL?
Personally, we believe that, given the current situation and the safety measures that have been put in place, we still have several weeks of lockdown ahead of us. And even if all this were to end in two or even three weeks, we don’t think things would return to normal straight away. We will need to review and monitor every step to ensure minimum safety standards are in place, allowing us to leave our homes again and get on with our lives, both at work and in our free time.
On the financial front, we believe that many professional clubs, particularly the smaller ones, will face a very heavy financial burden. Take HEARTS in the Scottish Premier League, for example. The club currently sits bottom of its league, a competition with far less prominence than the Premier League, but in which it nevertheless competes as a fully professional club. Despite this, the Scottish club announced through its chairwoman, Ann Budge, that all members of its professional staff would face a 50 per cent pay cut due to the financial difficulties anticipated as a result of COVID-19.
With the EURO and the COPA AMÉRICA postponed until 2021, we think we will indeed see the domestic leagues reach their conclusion. We don’t know when or under what conditions, but at least we’ll be able to see the leagues reach their natural conclusion rather than the way that was being mooted just a few days ago. It would be completely unfair to all the clubs if the leagues were to end as they stand at the moment. That’s not football, and it wouldn’t be fair to anyone: not to the clubs, not to the players and, above all, not to the fans either.
Champions and Europa League have been suspended!
In recent hours, there have been numerous reports regarding these two competitions – considered among the most important in European football – for which no official decision has yet been made. However, everything suggests that the Champions League and Europa League finals will be played in late June, provided that the situation caused by COVID-19 has by then begun to ease. That is UEFA’s intention, although we will have to wait and see how events unfold. Meanwhile, the final stages of the UEFA Youth League and the Futsal Champions League Final Four have also been postponed.
Despite all this, here at Fútbol Emotion we know that EVERYTHING WILL TURN OUT ALL RIGHT and that, sooner or later, everything will return to normal. Look after yourselves and your families, and very soon we’ll be back doing what we love most: enjoying football, in good health, and supporting our favourite clubs once again.
