On March 13, UEFA announced the postponement of the Champions League amid the coronavirus pandemic. Ever since, fans have been wondering: When will Champions League resume?
With many European nations going on complete lockdown from March to June, playing football became secondary. Nonetheless, soccer is the most important of the unimportant things in life, and players, clubs and fans want to see the competition completed.
Kazakhstan’s league was suspended on Friday for a second time after the government implemented another 14-day lockdown due to a rise in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.
The Kazakh top flight resumed on Wednesday after a three-and-a-half-month break due to the pandemic though the recent surge in infections forced some coaches to field weakened teams.
Five matches were played without spectators. Kazakh teams Tobol and Caspiy played with second-string sides due to a number of positive COVID-19 tests.
European soccer body UEFA has temporarily relaxed its break-even rule known as Financial Fair Play, saying it wants to make sure that clubs are not penalized for unforeseen losses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic this season.
The European soccer body said in a statement that clubs' accounts for the 2020 and 2021 financial years would be assessed together rather than separately, to give clubs time to recuperate from losses suffered during the last three months.
This season's Champions League, suspended in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be completed with an eight-team mini-tournament which will be held in Lisbon in August, European soccer's governing body UEFA said on Wednesday.
The quarterfinals and semifinals will be staged over one leg, instead of the usual two, with the final to be held on Aug. 23, UEFA deputy general secretary Giorgio Marchetti said after an executive committee meeting held by video conference.
UEFA is set to complete the Champions League with a 'Final Eight' tournament held over 10 days in Lisbon, according to a plan that will be presented to UEFA's executive committee for ratification on Wednesday.
A source with knowledge of discussions between clubs and European soccer's governing body told Reuters that the proposal is expected to be agreed upon after a consensus was reached on Monday.
UEFA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Manchester City will attempt to overturn their two-year UEFA ban from European football when a three-day hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland begins on Monday.
European soccer's governing body UEFA ruled in February that City had committed serious breaches of Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations and failed to cooperate with its investigation, handing them a ban and a $34 million fine.
KLAGENFURT, Austria — Salzburg won the Austrian Cup with a ruthless 5-0 destruction of second-tier Austria Lustenau in the final as the season resumed following the coronavirus stoppage on Friday.
With the victory, Salzburg coach Jesse Marsch, a Wisconsin native, became the first American-born coach to win a major trophy in Europe.
MOSCOW — Russia's Sports Minister said on Friday he welcomed a decision by the authorities to allow spectators into stadiums when matches in the country's top professional soccer league resume next month.
The Russian Premier League halted matches in mid-March because of the COVID-19 crisis and is set to resume action on June 21.
"It's important that the soccer championship resumes in the presence of spectators, even though small in number," Russian news agencies quoted Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin as saying.
PRAGUE — The top Czech soccer league resumed on Saturday after a two-month break due to the new coronavirus pandemic, with Teplice beating Slovan Liberec 2-0 in a match that included pre-kickoff temperature checks and other protective measures.
The re-start made the Czech league one of the first in Europe to take to the pitch again, following the Bundesliga which resumed last weekend in neighboring Germany.
BARCELONA — Spanish soccer's top flight division La Liga can return to action from June 8 after being disrupted by the novel coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday.
All organised soccer in Spain was provisionally suspended on March 12 although clubs in the top two divisions have since returned to group training.
La Liga has yet to officially confirm a date on which it will resume, although its president Javier Tebas had said previously he hoped the season could do so from June 12.