UEFA Euro 2020 postponed for next year

Liam Watson
UEFA Euro 2020 has been postponed to their summer of 2021 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

European soccer’s governing body revealed that the national team competition will now take place next year from 11th June until 11th July 2021.

The decision comes in relation to allowing Europe’s domestic leagues more time to complete their current seasons, the majority of which have now been put on hold due to the spread of coronavirus.

The Financial Times had earlier reported that UEFA hopes postponing Euro 2020 would give national leagues the opportunity to resume fixtures in the summer – where space has been vacated.

Last week, UEFA called emergency video conference meetings for 17th March to discuss the future of both Euro 2020 and this season’s Champions League and Europa League club competitions.

Representatives from UEFA’s 55 member associations have been involved in the meetings, along with the boards of the European Club Association (ECA) and the European Leagues. Discussions also involved a spokesperson from FIFPro, the international representative body for professional soccer players.

Most of European soccer’s top leagues have taken action and suspended their competition in response to the spread of coronavirus, although there are still a small number going ahead either behind closed doors or in front of a limited number of spectators.

On Friday, England’s Premier League and Germany’s Bundesliga become the last of Europe’s ‘big five’ domestic competitions to postpone their fixtures, following similar decisions already taken by Serie A in Italy, Ligue 1 in France and La Liga in Spain.

Euro 2020 had been scheduled to begin in Rome on 12th June and be held across 12 European cities, with the final taking place in London on 12th July.

The new dates mean it will likely clash with global governing body Fifa’s inaugural 24-team Club World Cup, which is currently slated to take place in China from 17th June until 4th July 2021.

UEFA’s Women’s European Championship is also scheduled for the summer of 2021 – starting four days before the new proposed end of the men’s competition. It remains to be seen how the governing body would adjust its calendar to fit in that tournament alongside the men’s event.

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South Canberra FC Breaks the Mold: Equity-Driven Model Earns ‘Club Changer’ Honour

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Image Credit: SCFC

South Canberra Football Club has been named Club Changer of the Month for April, in a recognition that reflects a broader shift across Australian football toward rewarding clubs that are actively dismantling the structural barriers limiting women’s access to the game.

The AFC Women’s Asian Cup has just delivered record crowds and unprecedented visibility for women’s football in Australia, and the Club Changer program is now asking what comes next. Its decision to name South Canberra Football Club as Club Changer of the Month for April signals a clear shift in how the program defines contribution: away from participation numbers alone, and toward the equity frameworks that determine whether women stay in the game once they arrive.

South Canberra FC built that framework from the ground up. Established in 2021, the club set out to give women and female-identifying players a safe, inclusive environment to play football at any level. It runs entirely on volunteers, operates as a not-for-profit, and is governed by an all-female committee with 13 of its 14 coaches identifying as female.

 

Building the infrastructure of inclusion

In 2026, the club secured grant funding and put it to work immediately. Two coaches are completing their C Licence qualification, and ten coaches, players and community members have undertaken the Foundations of Football course, which directly tackles the cost and accessibility barriers that exclude women out of coaching pathways.

The club also commissioned a female-specific strength and conditioning program with sports physiotherapists ahead of the 2026 season, targeting injury prevention and explicitly supporting players returning after childbirth.

SCFC’s leadership team draws from LGBTIQ+ individuals, First Nations people and veterans, strengthening the club’s connection to the communities it was built to represent.

The Club Changer program is backing clubs that do this work- clubs that treat equity as infrastructure rather than aspiration. At a moment when Australian football is under pressure to turn its biggest-ever surge of women’s interest into something lasting, SCFC’s model offers a clear answer to the question of how.

Football NSW announces 2026 First Nations Scholarships as pathway access program enters new phase

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Image Credit: Football NSW

Football NSW has announced the recipients of its 2026 First Nations Scholarships, with ten emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players from metropolitan and regional NSW receiving support designed to reduce the financial and structural barriers that have historically limited First Nations participation across the football pathway.

The scholarship program, developed and assessed in collaboration with the Football NSW Indigenous Advisory Group, targets players across both elite and development environments – recognising that talent identification alone is insufficient without the resources to support progression once players are identified.

Co-Chair of the Indigenous Advisory Group Bianca Dufty said the calibre of this year’s recipients reflected the depth of First Nations football talent across the state, and the importance of structured support in converting that talent into long-term participation.

“Their dedication to football and the desire to be role models for younger Aboriginal footballers in their communities is to be celebrated,” Dufty said. “I’m confident we will see some of these talented footballers in the A-League and national teams in the future.”

 

Beyond the pitch and into the pipeline

The 2026 cohort spans both metropolitan clubs and regional associations, an intentional distribution that acknowledges the particular barriers facing First Nations players outside major population centres, where access to development programs, qualified coaching and pathway competitions is more limited and the cost of participation more prohibitive.

The next phase of the program will introduce First Nations coaching scholarships, extending the initiative’s reach beyond playing pathways and into the coaching and administration pipeline – areas where Indigenous representation remains among the lowest in the game.

The structural logic is clear. Scholarships that reduce financial barriers at the entry point of elite pathways matter most when they are part of a sustained ecosystem of support rather than isolated gestures. Football NSW’s collaboration with the Indigenous Advisory Group provides that continuity, ensuring the program is shaped by the communities it is designed to serve.

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