Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin is weighing up whether to stage the European Championship in one country this summer rather than across the continent as planned due to Covid-19 concerns.
The 24-nation tournament, a major revenue generator for European football’s governing body and the national federations, was postponed by 12 months due to the pandemic.
The tournament is scheduled to start on June 11 in 12 cities across Europe but Rummenigge said the concept was dreamed up before the novel coronavirus outbreak.
“We must not forget that the idea of this special hosting of the tournament came about when the coronavirus didn’t exist … it was an initiative of the EU Commission that wanted to have football shown all over Europe,” he told German newspaper Muenchner Merkur/TZ.
“But I know that the Uefa president, Aleksander Ceferin – who is incredibly careful with corona – is thinking about whether it wouldn’t make more sense in these times to play the tournament in just one country.
“That would be with a corresponding hygiene concept, of course.”
The current host cities are Glasgow, Dublin, Bilbao, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Munich, Rome, St Petersburg, Bucharest, Budapest and Baku, with the semifinals and final set for London’s Wembley Stadium.
Uefa is expected to make a decision on the fate of the tournament in March.
Ceferin said last week he was hopeful vaccination programmes, moving at different speeds across the various host countries, will be the key to sticking to the plan.
European leagues have introduced strict health protocols to allow domestic seasons to be played, with some countries allowing fans back in limited numbers.