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UEFA aiming to complete European club season by June 30

Jan Kruger - UEFA / UEFA / Getty

UEFA hopes the current European club season can be completed by June 30 despite the havoc wreaked on the sporting calendar by the spread of the new coronavirus.

After announcing earlier Tuesday that Euro 2020 has been postponed by a year, the governing body confirmed its intention to use the newly freed portion of the summer calendar to wrap up "all domestic and European club competitions."

That includes Europe's top domestic leagues - all five have been halted by the COVID-19 outbreak - and the Champions League, the crown jewel of UEFA's club season. UEFA added that play will only resume when it's "appropriate and prudent" to do so.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced last week that Europe is now the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic. Italy, the world's second-worst affected country, has over 30,000 confirmed cases, with over 2,500 deaths. Spain, France, and Germany have also experienced rising numbers in recent days.

While Tuesday's meeting did help create a possible timeline for completing the season, there were no discussions about the potential need to play those matches behind closed doors, The Telegraph's Ben Rumsby reports.

A group has been put together to "examine relevant calendar matters and devise solutions," UEFA noted.

One such solution is potentially staging Champions League matches on weekends, with domestic league games adding midweek slots to make up for the time already lost.

Pushing the 2020-21 Champions League and Europa League qualifying rounds to later dates if current editions of both tournaments are not decided before June 30 was also discussed.

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