LISBON: Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa has reassured European federation UEFA that all stops will be pulled to ensure the Champions League Final Eight tournament is completed in August.
He met UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin and Portuguese federation president Fernando Gomes in video conference a week after some domestic restrictions were reimposed following a local spike in the number of positive tests for coronavirus.
Ceferin thanked the Portuguese authorities for their work “to ensure Portugal delivers a successful tournament,” and added: “I am confident that with the continued and constant collaboration between all stakeholders, we will conclude the season in a positive way in Lisbon. There is no need for a Plan B.”
Costa said: “It was a pleasure to hear that UEFA remains fully committed to hosting the UEFA Champions League Final Eight in Portugal.
“I shared a complete update on the COVID-19 situation in our country and added that all measures are being taken to ensure that we will host this tournament in a safe and secure manner.”
Ceferin held a similar meeting with the Germanb authorities concerning the final tournament in the Europa League.
A UEFA statement said:
UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin has met today with the German Football Association (DFB) via video conference for an update on the upcoming UEFA Europa League Final Eight tournament to be held in Germany from 10 to 21 August 2020.
During the meeting, both UEFA and the DFB underlined their commitment to working closely together in order to stage a successful event in Germany and both parties stressed their strong belief that all measures will be taken to ensure that the matches will be hosted in a safe and secure manner.
UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin said, “I would like to thank the DFB and their president, Fritz Keller, for their dedication to this project and the work they are undertaking alongside the local authorities to ensure that Germany delivers a successful tournament. I am confident that with the constant collaboration between all stakeholders, we will crown the UEFA Europa League champions in Cologne. As with the UEFA Champions League Final Eight in Portugal, there is no need for a Plan B for this tournament in Germany.”
DFB President Fritz Keller said, “Only if we stand together as a football family we will be able to master the consequences of the Corona pandemic. That’s why I am very proud and happy, that we together with UEFA will host the UEFA Europa League Final Eight Tournament in Germany. We will bring our experience, in particular from the last months, to the organisation of the tournament and will justify the trust UEFA and Aleksander Čeferin have put in the DFB as host.”
The 2019-20 UEFA Europa League quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will be played as a straight knockout tournament in Cologne, Duisburg, Düsseldorf and Gelsenkirchen, from 10 to 21 August 2020.
All these ties will be single-leg fixtures. The games will be split between at the Stadion Köln in Cologne (where the final be hosted); MSV Arena in Duisburg; Düsseldorf arena in Düsseldorf; and Arena AufSchalke in Gelsenkirchen.
Regardless of the pending decision on where the six remaining UEFA Europa League Round of 16 second-leg matches are played, the two Round of 16 (FC Internazionale Milano vs Getafe CF and Sevilla FC vs AS Roma) that have yet to play the first leg, will be played as single-leg matches with both being held in Germany at two of the venues listed above on 5/6 August 2020.
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