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Champions League: towards a draw for base camps for clubs

2020-07-02T02:42:32.978Z


UEFA confirms that the final tournament, scheduled for August 12-23 in Portugal, will be held on Tuesday. PSG and the other qualified clubs should remain


How to welcome between eight and twelve teams in good conditions, in a hurry and against a background of coronavirus? This is the challenge facing UEFA, the organizer of the Champions League (12 to 23 August). The body formalized on June 17 the calendar to complete the event, as did its relocation to Portugal, while the final was to be played in Istanbul (Turkey).

Since then, its teams and clubs have been working on the organization, despite the reconfiguration of part of the Lisbon city, which takes effect this Wednesday. The situation was serious enough to bring UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin and Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa to hold a videoconference meeting on Tuesday, after which they reassured them that the event would be held. "All measures will be taken to ensure that we host the tournament safely," said Antonio Costa in a press release. “I am confident […] that we will end the season positively in Lisbon. We don't need a plan B, ”confirms the Slovenian leader.

UEFA, which has very solid experience in planning major competitions, relies on the Euro model between national teams to plan the final tournament. After having selected the two major stadiums in the capital (Estadio Da Luz and Estadio José Alvalade) and those in Porto and Guimaraes in reserve for possible round of last 16 (Juventus Turin - Lyon, for example), the organizers are looking at welcoming teams.

No return by the Paris box?

As for the Euro, a catalog of sites is being finalized. The places of residence and sports facilities will be listed there. But unlike national competitions where each competing team visits and issues wishes, the qualified should not have a choice. A draw is the preferred solution currently for the allocation of base camps, according to information obtained from sources at UEFA and PSG.

Eight sites should be retained in Lisbon and its surroundings. The organization relocated to Portugal of the round of 16 return on August 7 or 8 is not yet confirmed. If it is, the teams concerned will have a first base camp in the north of the country, before the four qualified move to Lisbon for the "Final 8" in which PSG has hoisted at the expense of Dortmund.

UEFA envisages the end of the competition as a mini-tournament and plans that the teams will remain in place from their arrival until their elimination, without specifying whether this will be an obligation. The question could arise with five or six days between the quarters (from August 12 to 15) and the semi-finals (August 18 and 19) and four or five days between the semi-finals and the final (August 23 ). The scenario of a stay without going back through Paris in the event of qualification is also the one that is considered most likely at PSG, without however this being definitively decided. This would have the merit of limiting contacts with outside people (airports, return home, etc.).

Pessimism about welcoming supporters

The details of the organization will be refined little by little before the draw for the final table, Friday July 10 at noon in Nyon (Switzerland). The body is also preparing various scenarios for the reception of the media. The doors will probably not be as closed as at PSG-Dortmund where only broadcasters and club media had access to the precinct, but it is likely that the media contingent will be limited.

Regarding the reception of supporters, the local health situation does not lead to optimism. Several districts of the Lisbon suburbs are therefore reconfigured from this Wednesday. "Currently, the situation does not seem to be under control," explains Martha Gens, the head of the Portuguese supporters' defense association. There continue to be significant contamination points which have led to a review of a process which seemed to be progressing well. We will see what effects the new measures will have on the curve. "

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Portuguese football continues to play without an audience. "There is no forecast or information on when supporters can return to the stands, even in small numbers," says Martha Gens. Even in town, how could we receive people for an event when establishments close at 8 p.m. and gatherings of more than ten people are not allowed? "

Source: leparis

All sports articles on 2020-07-02

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