Burundi Ligue A was one of the few football leagues still playing during theCOVID-19 pandemic, until it was suspended after the conclusion of matchday 27 on 5 April 2020. However, the season resumed on 30 May 2020 and the competition concluded on 24 June 2020.[5][6]
On 16 March 2020, theFootball Federation Australia due to restrictions imposed by theAustralian Government of gatherings involving more than 500 people, announced that the remainder of the season of theA-League would proceed with all games being played behind closed doors.[12] The season was suspended on 24 March.[13]
TheAFC Champions League andAFC Cup were also impacted, with a number of group stage and play-off matches being postponed.[14]
Ýokary Liga ofTurkmenistan was one of the few football leagues still playing during theCOVID-19 pandemic, until it was suspended on 23 March 2020.[15][16] It resumed on 19 April with spectators.[17] However, on August 17, 2020, the competition was suspended again.[18] The league resumed later.
On 27 March, theTajikistan Football Federation announced that theTajik Super Cup and the opening of theTajikistan Higher League would be played behind closed doors due to the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic.[19] However, on 25 April, the Tajikistan Football Federation announced the suspension of football, following the completion of Round 4 on 26 April, until 10 May.[20] On 6 May, the Tajikistan Football Federation extended the suspension of football indefinitely due to the spread ofCOVID-19 pandemic in Tajikistan.[21]
On 12 April 2020Taiwan Football Premier League began.[22] It was one of the few football leagues in the world to begin and proceed without disruption, due to the relatively light situation in Taiwan compared to most other countries.[23] Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan, no fans were allowed to attend the first round of the competition.[24]
Owing to the surge in new COVID-19 cases, the Beijing Municipal Sports Competitions Administration Centre announced on 15 June 2020 the suspension of the2020 CSL season.[26] On 1 July, it was announced that the season would start on 25 July.
On 9 July, it was announced that the AFC Cup would return on 23 September and conclude on 12 December, with the group stage matches to be held in centralised venues.[27][28] However, the season was later abandoned on 10 September and was declared void the following day.[29]
In the AFC Champions League, the AFC announced thatQatar would host all West Region matches after restart.[30]Al Wahda were unable to travel to Qatar to play their remaining matches of the group stage due to several team members testing positive for COVID-19.[31] They were considered to have withdrawn from the competition, and all their previous matches were considered "null and void".[32] The same happened with the defending championAl-Hilal, when they failed to name the required 13 players and were unable to play their final match of the group stage againstShabab Al-Ahli due to them having only 11 players left with the remaining team members testing positive for COVID-19;[33] hence, they were also considered to have withdrawn from the competition, and all their previous matches were considered "null and void", and would not be taken into consideration in determining the final group rankings.[34]
Qatar also hosted all AFC Champions League East Region matches after restart. However, Malaysian clubJohor Darul Ta'zim were unable to travel to Qatar to play the final four matches of the group stage due to the COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions after they were denied permission to travel by the Malaysian government.[35] Their matches were considered "null and void" and would not affect the final group rankings.[36]
On 25 January 2021, AFC announced the cancellation of the2020 AFC U-16 Championship following two postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[37] leaving the hosting rights for the next tournament with Bahrain.[38]
Post-match handshakes replaced by fist and elbow bumps (August 2020)Seats atthe Dripping Pan marked for social distancingAUEFA Champions League match betweenFC Krasnodar andChelsea played in front of a limited-capacity crowd (October 2020)
In Europe, various knockout matches in theChampions League andEuropa League were playedbehind closed doors in February and March 2020.[41][42] On 12 March 2020,UEFA announced that the elite qualification round of the men and women's under-17 and under-19 youth international tournaments had been postponed.[43] The following day, UEFA postponed all fixtures for the following week in the Champions League, Europa League andYouth League.[44] On 17 JuneUEFA announced that the Champions League would resume in Portugal, and the Europa League in Germany, in August, but all rounds would be single-match affairs, with the exception of the Europa League round of 16 where the first game had already been played.
Many of the domestic European leagues were impacted in February and March 2020. After various fixtures were rescheduled or played behind closed doors,Serie A was postponed on 9 March 2020.[45] On 12 March,La Liga and theSegunda División were suspended for at least two weeks after aReal Madrid basketball player tested positive for the virus, which resulted in Real Madrid's footballers being put in quarantine as the two teams share the same training facilities in Valdebebas.[46] TheEredivisie was also suspended (it was officially declared abandoned on 24 April with no champion awarded),[47] whileLigue 1 and theBundesliga followed suit shortly afterwards.[48][49] Ligue 1 would eventually end on 27 April after the French Prime Minister ordered all sporting events to be cancelled until 1 September, withParis Saint-Germain being declared champions and on 23 JuneAmiens andToulouse were relegated to the2020–21 Ligue 2.[50][51] The Bundesliga eventually returned on 16 May following the suspension of play.
By 19 March 2020, theBelarusian Premier League was the only active top flight in all 55 UEFA member associations.[59] Only a few matches were postponed due to outbreaks of the disease in some teams and only one was cancelled due to the lack of influence of the result in November 2020.[60][61]
On 5 May 2020,Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) chief executiveNeil Doncaster summed up the situation in his country during a video conference involving theScottish Football Association,Scottish Rugby and others in respect of the COVID-19 pandemic; he stated that "gate receipts make up a far higher proportion of our income than in England, which benefits from huge TV deals, so until we get back to playing in front of crowds, our game will remain in grave peril."[62]
On 2 June 2020, theRussian Premier League published specific dates for each remaining game of the season, with the first game upon resumption scheduled on 19 June.[72] On 5 June, the league announced that some fans would be allowed in the stands, following limitations established by the appropriate local authorities, but away fans would not be allowed in.[73]
That same day chairman of Premier League football sideTottenham Hotspur,Daniel Levy, revealed that the club has taken a loan of £175 million from theBank of England. The chairman said that money has been taken to tackle with the gripping effects of coronavirus pandemic on the club.[74]
On 30 June 2020,Premier League chief executive Richard Masters announced £1,000,000 as aid for next seasons of the Women's Super League and Championship to mitigate the effect of coronavirus.[75]
On 19 June 2020,FC Rostov lost 1–10 againstPFC Sochi in the Russian Premier League, as they fielded their junior team, after six players of the senior team have been infected with COVID-19; hence, the whole team was quarantined.[76]
The SpanishCopa del Rey final was originally scheduled for 18 April 2020 inEstadio de La Cartuja, but the match was postponed with the agreement of both participating clubs (Athletic Bilbao andReal Sociedad) on 11 March (with no new date decided at that point), in the hope that the delay would provide time to contain the outbreak and allow the final to take place with a full stadium as in normal circumstances.[77] Despite this, the final was played on 3 April 2021 behind closed doors.[78]
On 1 July 2020,Wigan Athletic fell into administration after being negatively affected by the pandemic lockdown.[79] By appointing Paul Stanley, Gerald Krasner and Dean Watson from Begbies Traynor, it became the first professional club in England to call up administrators since the pandemic had begun.[80] In addition, many small English football clubs were affected by the pandemic as they rely on ticket sales for revenue.[81]
On 1 August 2020, theFA Cup final was played behind closed doors betweenArsenal F.C. andChelsea F.C. It was originally scheduled for 23 May, but it was postponed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.[90] As part of precautions against COVID-19, Arsenal received the trophy on the pitch and not, as in previous seasons, by climbing steps to the Royal Box for the presentation.[91]
The schedule and the format of the2020–21 UEFA Champions League was changed. The tournament would originally have started in June 2020, but was delayed to August due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe.[100] The new schedule was announced by the UEFA Executive Committee on 17 June 2020.[101] All qualifying matches, excluding the play-off round, were played as single leg matches, hosted by one of the teams decided by draw (except the preliminary round which was played at neutral venue).[102][103]
In the2020–21 UEFA Champions League preliminary round, Kosovar clubDrita's match againstLinfield inNyon, Switzerland was called off, due to two players from Drita testing positive for COVID-19 and the whole team being put into quarantine by the Swiss authorities; eventually, Linfield was awarded a 3–0 win.[104] In the first qualifying round of the same competition, Faroese clubKÍ was awarded a 3–0 win overSlovan Bratislava, in which the match was initially postponed after one staff member from the latter tested positive for COVID-19,[105] followed by a player from this same team,[106] eventually the whole team was put into quarantine by the Faroese authorities,[106] and KÍ were subsequently awarded a technical victory.[107]
On 17 September 2020, a German team, SG Ripdorf/Molzen ll, lost 37–0 against SV Holdenstedt ll in 3.Kreisklasse. SV Holdenstedt II who came into contact in a previous game with someone who tested positive for COVID-19, refused to reschedule the match; hence, SG Ripdorf/Molzen ll competed with only seven men for fear of infection and did not offer any resistance.[108][109]
On 24 September 2020, theUEFA Super Cup was played. The match was originally scheduled to be played at theEstádio do Dragão inPorto, on 12 August 2020.[110][111] However, after the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe caused the postponements of the previous season's Champions League and Europa League, the UEFA Executive Committee chose to award the rescheduled Champions League final to Portugal, and postponed and relocated the Super Cup toPuskás Aréna inBudapest.[102][112] The UEFA Executive Committee decided to use the event as a pilot match for which a reduced number of spectators, up to 30% of the capacity of the stadium, were allowed in, becoming the first official UEFA match to have spectators since their competitions were resumed in August 2020.[113]
On 4 October 2020, Italian clubNapoli decided not to travel toTurin to play aSerie A match againstJuventus, following the Azienda Sanitaria Locale (ASL) protocol as two of their players tested positive for COVID-19 along with a staff member.[115] On 14 October, Juventus were awarded a 3–0 win, and Napoli were deducted 1 point by the Disciplinary Commission as punishment for violating theFIGC COVID-19 protocol approved by the Technical-Scientific Committee of theMinistry of Health regarding the activity of professional athletes.[116] On 22 December, theCONI Guarantee Board, overturned the previous decision of the competition judge, accepting the appeal presented by Napoli against the defeat by default and the point deduction and stating that the match must be played.[117] The next day,Lega Serie A postponed the match to a date to be determined following the decision.[118] On 7 April 2021, the match was finally played with a 2–1 victory for Juventus.[119]
In January 2021,Arsenal received a £120m loan from theBank of England to help offset the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.[123]
That same month took place the2020–21 Supercopa de España. The competition was initially supposed to be held inSaudi Arabia like the previous year, but restrictions related to the global COVID-19 pandemic forced it to remain in Spain. The semi-finals were played behind doors in the cities ofCórdoba andMálaga, on 13 and 14 January 2021. Thefinal was played atEstadio de La Cartuja inSeville on 17 January 2021.[124]
On 13 January 2021, took place the2020 Trophée des Champions. The final was initially supposed to be held outside of France, but restrictions related to the global COVID-19 pandemic forced it to remain in the country.[125][126] The match was finally played behind doors at theStade Bollaert-Delelis inLens.[127]
On 20 January 2021, took place the2020 Supercoppa Italiana. The match was initially supposed to be held in December inSaudi Arabia like the previous year, but restrictions related to the global COVID-19 pandemic forced it to remain in Italy.[128] The trophy was finally disputed behind doors at theMapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore.[129]
On 29 May 2021, the2021 UEFA Champions League final betweenManchester City and Chelsea was disputed. The final was originally scheduled to be played at theKrestovsky Stadium inSaint Petersburg, Russia. However, due to the postponement and relocation of the2020 final to Lisbon as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, the final hosts were shifted back a year, with theAtatürk Olympic Stadium inIstanbul, Turkey instead planning to host the 2021 final.[102] Two weeks before the final, UEFA announced that it would be relocated to Porto, Portugal to allow a limited number of fans to attend the match.[132] A capacity limit of 33% was agreed for the 50,000-seaterEstádio do Dragão, resulting in an attendance of 14,110.[133]
In December 2021, theGerman government imposed measures which affected the2021–22 Bundesliga matches. As a result, the2G+ rule was implemented and clubs were allowed an attendance of up to 50% and a maximum of 15,000 fans into stadiums in some states, while in other states spectators were once again banned from attending games.[134][135] This also affected two matches in the2021–22 UEFA Champions League –RB Leipzig vs.Manchester City F.C. andFC Bayern Munich vs.FC Barcelona – which were played behind closed doors.[136][137] Restrictions were later extended to all the country, limiting the number of spectators or completely banning the presence of them, up to and including the 9 February 2022.[138][139]
On 12 March 2020, theCONCACAF Champions League was suspended with immediate effect.[142] All otherCONCACAF competitions scheduled for the next month were also suspended.[143] On 10 November, it was announced that the competition would resume in December and be played inOrlando with single-leg, neutral venue matches.[144]
Also on 12 March, theNational Women's Soccer League (NWSL), whoseseason was not scheduled to start until 18 April, canceled its preseason matches,[147] and also imposed a moratorium on team training that initially ran through 22 March.[148]
On 12 MarchMajor League Soccer was suspended for 30 days.[149] On 19 March, Major League Soccer's suspension was extended to a target return date of 10 May.[150] On 14 April, MLS announced that it was "extremely unlikely based on the guidance of federal and local public health authorities" that they would meet this target, and stated that "our goal remains to play as many games as possible, and while we currently have enough dates to play the entire season, we recognize at this time that it may become difficult to do so."[151] The2020 U.S. Open Cup,2020 Leagues Cup,2020 Campeones Cup and2020 MLS All-Star Game were also all cancelled.[152][153]
On 20 March, theCanadian Premier League announced a postponement of their season which was scheduled to start on 11 April.[154]
Match week 10 ofLiga MX,Women's Liga MX, andAscenso MX took place but as of 15 March, club owners and league executives had then taken a decision to postpone all Mexican football activity until further notice.[160] As of 22 May, Mexican football executives announce the termination of the remainder of the currentClausura 2020 championship.[161]
On 10 June, Major League Soccer announced a return to action on 8 July with a mini-tournament, called theMLS is Back Tournament at theESPN Wide World of Sports Complex atWalt Disney World nearOrlando, Florida, with all group stage matches counting towards the regular season standings.[162] The regular season was then resumed with fewer fixtures and reduced or no attendance allowed, with theplayoffs beginning in November.[163] Canadian teams in the league had to play the remainder of their fixtures in the United States, due to travel restrictions between the borders.[164] This would later continue through the2021 season after travel restrictions continued to remain in effect.[165]
On 24 July, Liga MX inaugurated the 2020–21 Liga MX season, also known asTorneo Guard1anes 2020. The season was dedicated to Mexico's frontline healthcare and medical staff.Mazatlán F.C. debuted in Liga MX, replacing the dissolvedMonarcas Morelia.[166]
On 12 March 2020, CONMEBOL announced that theCopa Libertadores would be temporarily suspended.[168] The tournament was suspended after group stage matchday 2 and resumed on 15 September 2020, ending with the final on 30 January 2021.[169][170] In addition, theCopa Sudamericana have been suspended after first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to be resumed on 27 October 2020, with the final rescheduled to be played in late January 2021.[171]
On 15 March, all top-tier football in Brazil was suspended until April.[172] TheCampeonato Brasileiro Série A was originally scheduled to begin on 3 May and end on 6 December.[173] However, due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Brazil the tournament was rescheduled, starting on 8 August 2020 and ending on 25 February 2021.[174]
Academic research analyzes and compares the safe return protocols of major football leagues and associations to those of the Brazilian Championship, as well as to survey the numbers of COVID-19 outbreaks in clubs that competed in the 2020 Brazilian Championship Series A. The documentary research was carried out through the analysis of articles published on open-source football league and federation websites. National and international return protocols were verified, as well as the documenting of isolated cases and outbreaks of COVID-19 in the Brazilian Championship. In the Brazilian Championship, the return to play occurred at a time when COVID-19 case numbers were rising, a fact that, together with the decentralization of the match cities, was likely linked to the number of positive cases.[175]
In New Zealand, the three main competitions, theNew Zealand Football Championship, theChatham Cup and theKate Sheppard Cup were all cancelled byNew Zealand Football. The2019–20 New Zealand Football Championship season was concluded after 18 weeks, withAuckland City declared the winner.[176] On 23 April, both the national Men's and Women's knock-out cups were cancelled a week before the preliminary rounds were due to kick off.[177] It was the first time theChatham Cup had been cancelled since the end of World War II.[177]
On 15 January 2021,FIFA announced that Auckland City had withdrawn from the2020 FIFA Club World Cup, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related quarantine measures required by the New Zealand authorities.[178] On 4 June 2021, the OFC announced that the2021 OFC Champions League had been cancelled, and no champions would be awarded for the second season in a row.[179]
On 13 March 2020, FIFA announced that clubs did not have to release players to their national teams during the international windows of March and April 2020, while players also had the option to decline a call-up without any consequences. FIFA also recommended that all international matches during these windows be postponed, though the final decision was left to the competition organisers or member associations forfriendly matches.[180]
Thequalifiers for the2022 FIFA World Cup was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, it was announced thatAsian qualifier matches due to take place in March and June 2020 were postponed to later dates.[181] TheSouth American qualifiers due to take place in March 2020 were also postponed to later dates.[182]
The2020 FIFA Club World Cup was postponed from 2020 to 2021,[183] as the AFC, CONMEBOL, and CONCACAF champions would not have been decided in time for the tournament. Originally to be held in December 2020, on 17 November of the same year FIFA announced that the competition would be played between 1 and 11 February 2021.[184]
Originally seven teams were to compete in the tournament. However, OFC's representativesAuckland City withdrew due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related quarantine measures required by theNew Zealand authorities. As a result, only six teams competed, and the first round match, originally scheduled on 1 February 2021, was awarded as a 3–0 win to their first round opponents, hostQatar's representativesAl-Duhail, who advanced automatically to the second round on 4 February 2021.[185]
Attendance was limited to only 30% of the stadiums' seating capacity.[186] A third stadium in Al Rayyan,Khalifa International Stadium, would originally have hosted two matches, but following the withdrawal ofAuckland City and the subsequent revision of the match schedule, it was not used for the tournament.[187][188][189]
The2021 edition was also affected by COVID-19 restrictions. On 4 December 2020, theFIFA Council announced that the Club World Cup would be held in late 2021 and hosted by Japan.[190] However, on 8 September 2021, theJapan Football Association dropped its commitment to host the tournament, owing to the possibility of restrictions on fan attendance due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Japan.[191][192] On 20 October 2021, the FIFA Council named the United Arab Emirates as the host of the tournament, and postponed the event from late 2021 to early 2022.[193]
Also, on 4 June 2021, the OFC announced that the2021 OFC Champions League had been cancelled due to border closures throughout the Pacific caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, and no champions would be awarded.[194] The OFC representative at the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup, which would have originally been the winners of the 2021 OFC Champions League, was confirmed to beAuckland City by the OFC on 3 August 2021. The team was chosen by the OFC Executive Committee based on sporting merit principles, which used an overall ranking which took into consideration the final placing of each OFC Champions League between 2016 and 2020, and applied to the clubs nominated by their member association to qualify for the 2021 OFC Champions League.[195] However, on 31 December 2021, Auckland City withdrew from the competition due to delayed reopening of the borders in New Zealand related to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the reintroduction of the mandatory managed isolation and quarantine system upon returning to the country. As a result, TahitianAS Pirae were nominated as the OFC's representative in their place.[196]
On 17 March 2020, theCAF announced that the2020 African Nations Championship had been postponed to a later date due to the pandemic.[198] On 30 June CAF announced that the tournament would be held in January 2021.
Concerns were raised regardingUEFA Euro 2020, being held in twelve host cities across Europe, and the potential impact of the coronavirus on players, staff and tournament visitors.[200] UEFA presidentAleksander Čeferin said the organisation was confident that the situation could be dealt with, while general secretaryTheodore Theodoridis stated that UEFA was maintaining contact with theWorld Health Organization and national governments regarding the coronavirus.[201] UEFA announced that avideoconference would be held on 17 March with representatives of its 55 member associations, along with aFIFPro representative and the boards of theEuropean Club Association andEuropean Leagues, to discuss the response to the outbreak for domestic and European competitions, including Euro 2020.[202] The tournament was moved by 12 months.[203] On 23 April 2021, UEFA announced thatSeville (La Cartuja) would replace Bilbao as tournament host, while the matches of Dublin (Aviva Stadium) would be reallocated toSaint Petersburg for the group stage andLondon for the round of 16.[204]
The2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup was marred with COVID-19 cases among many of its participating teams. Most affected were hostIndia who were forced to withdraw from the tournament due to too many players rendered unavailable either due to COVID-19 or injuries.[210]
The football tournament of the2020 Summer Olympics was held from 22 July to 7 August 2021. Originally, it was to be held from 23 July to 8 August 2020, but theSummer Olympics were postponed to the following year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[211] Teams participating in the men's competition were restricted to under-24 players (born on or after 1 January 1997) with a maximum of three overage players allowed. The men's tournament is typically restricted to under-23 players though following the postponement of the Olympics by a year, FIFA decided to maintain the restriction of players born on or after 1 January 1997.[212]
This article incorporatestext by Leonardo José Mataruna-Dos-Santos, Pedro da Gama Roberto de Albuquerque, Gabriel de Almeida Vasconcellos, Rodrigo Mendonça do Nascimento, Nadine Tonelli Cavalari, Daniel Range, Andressa Fontes Guimarães-Mataruna, and Bianca Ortiz-Silva available under theCC BY 4.0 license.
^"中国足协关于2020赛季国内足球赛事延期开始的公告".Chinese Football Association (in Chinese). 30 January 2020.Archived from the original on 30 January 2020. Retrieved30 January 2020.
^Mataruna-Dos-Santos LJ, Albuquerque PdGRd, Vasconcellos GdA, Nascimento RMd, Cavalari NT, Range D, Guimarães-Mataruna AF, Ortiz-Silva B. An Analysis Safe Protocols Employed in Professional Male Soccer and the Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the 2020 Brazilian Championship. Sustainability. 2021; 13(24):13585.https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413585
^"2-1. España, plata tras perder la final de fútbol ante Brasil" (in Spanish). 7 August 2021. Retrieved3 April 2025.Incidencias: Final masculina de fútbol de los Juegos Olímpicos de Tokio disputado en el Estadio Internacional de Yokohama (Japón). Sin público por las restricciones debido a la pandemia del coronavirus. [Incidents: Men's football final of the Tokyo Olympic Games played at the International Stadium Yokohama (Japan). No spectators due to restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.]
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This article incorporatestext by Leonardo José Mataruna-Dos-Santos, Pedro da Gama Roberto de Albuquerque, Gabriel de Almeida Vasconcellos, Rodrigo Mendonça do Nascimento, Nadine Tonelli Cavalari, Daniel Range, Andressa Fontes Guimarães-Mataruna, and Bianca Ortiz-Silva available under theCC BY 4.0 license.
