Opinion: Euro 2020 should be postponed again until 2022 if fans can't attend - otherwise what's the point?

The authorities in charge of ticketing at this summer’s European Championships have recently been in contact with supporters about refunds.
Scotland fans take over London as the Tartan Army cool off in the fountain at Trafalgar Square in 2013.Scotland fans take over London as the Tartan Army cool off in the fountain at Trafalgar Square in 2013.
Scotland fans take over London as the Tartan Army cool off in the fountain at Trafalgar Square in 2013.

Fans only have a number of days to apply or risk the possibility of losing their money if the matches are moved, with doubts over the viability of the multi-city format in the midst of a global pandemic.

A decision likely won’t be made until March but, understandably, there isn’t a lot of optimism that the tournament, wherever it will be held, will be watched in front of supporters, at least not with capacity crowds, as the coronavirus continues to throttle large parts of the world.

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From a Scottish perspective, this is a major blow. It’s our first qualification for a tournament since the 1998 World Cup in France. It may not have been the ideal tournament to qualify for, seeing as the three group games take place in Glasgow and London, though it was certainly preferable to not qualifying and having other nations rock up to our gaff and have a kick-about in the back green. Besides, while it may not have given Tartan Army footsoldiers the opportunity to get another stamp in their passports, it would have granted easy access for hundreds of thousands of Scottish to drink, be merry and roar on their favourites when it came time for kick-off. After all, that’s what international tournaments are all about.

Sure, there’s the whole competition thing. But the feeling of absence that Scottish supporters felt for so long was hardened by images of Irish fans painting distant towns green, Welsh fans seeing their team have a moment to shine on the international stage, and English fans – well, getting into scraps with local authorities mostly, but some probably just have a nice time.

It gives us all the excuse to venture off into unknown lands while retaining that sense of belonging and community. Not to mention the ability to experience a taste of other cultures and happily mix with opposing supporters.

As a 34-year-old, this writer hasn’t experienced this following the men’s team to an international tournament. I did, however, get a taste of it last summer as I travelled to Nice and then onto Rennes to follow the Scottish women’s team at the World Cup.

The crowds weren’t as big, yes, but it was still great fun: going into a random bar in Nice and finding it absolutely packed out with Scottish fans; having pints and mingling with supporters outside of the ground before the game; being able to lie on the beach and watch a Scotland game on the same day; walking to the stadium in Rennes along with hundreds of other supporters; stopping in an African-French bar to get them to play T.H.I.S.T.L.E. (the same bar, unprompted, then played it on our return); cheering on the team from start to finish despite two narrow loses; returning together to drink in bars long into the night, meeting fellow supporters and generally just having a bloody good laugh. The experience was there to be enjoyed and it was terrific.

What is an international tournament without supporters? Is there any point in it taking place?

This is probably a pipe dream due to the money committed from sponsors and a backlog of international fixtures once things are back to normal. But would it be great if the plight of supporters was placed front and centre in the thoughts of Uefa and Fifa? That would certainly be a refreshing change.

Of course, you could say the same argument can apply to club football, but it’s not quite the same thing. Club football is the day-to-day; international tournaments are supposed to be celebrations of the game’s global reach and how it can bring people from all walks of life together. Would it therefore not make sense for us to actually be able to bring people together?

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This may be dismissed as unrealistic. The World Cup is also set to take place in 2022, but don’t forget that doesn’t kick off until November in Qatar. It doesn’t seem possible to have a European Championships and a World Cup in the same year, but we’ve had the Africa Cup of Nations and Copa America staged in the same calendar year as the World Cup before. Furthermore, everything clubs and football associations have achieved in keeping the sport going through all of this would have been dismissed as unrealistic beforehand.

There's also a health risk to consider. What happens if a team has an outbreak of Covid-19 in their camp during the tournament? Does that team have to just bow out? It’s not like a league where the match can just be played at a later date. There’s typically only five days between games, that’s not of much use when an entire squad is having to self-isolate for ten.

As for supporters, it would be unfair to allow them to attend if they supported one team but ban those from another. After all, it’s not the fault of individual supporters that they were born in a country currently run by a government tackling the Covid-19 nightmare with the poise of a crying toddler. It would also be a logistical nightmare. Imagine one banned supporter sneaks in and starts an outbreak that would threaten to bring down the entire tournament.

The safest and most practical way to host it in 2021 is to find a place where all teams can be safe in a bubble, similar to what the NBA did to finish last season’s play-offs. But applying that to a tournament that takes place every four years, seriously, what’s the point?

Postpone it and have it in 2022 when we can all come together and revel in the joy of football once again.

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