Why is European Championship held in 2021 called Euro 2020 and not Euro 2021?

There were doubts over whether the European Championship, which was postponed from last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be held this year in 2021. However, the Euro 2020 remains on track to go ahead next month in what will be a unique tournament. The 16th edition of the European Championships will be played across 11 different venues. Nevertheless, there has been plenty of discussion over why the European Championship held in 2021 is still being referred to as Euro 2020.

Euro 2020 name: Is it Euro 2020 or 2021?

The Euro 2020 was officially postponed last year due to the coronavirus pandemic and now the tournament is scheduled to take place in the summer of 2021. The showpiece event is set to begin from June 11 onwards with the final being played a month later on July 11, almost exactly 12 months after the original dates were decided by UEFA. However, fans have been curious to know why the tournament is still called Euro 2020 despite the fact that it is being held in 2021. 

Why is Euro 2020 not Euro 2021? Euro 2020 name maintained to honour 60-year tradition

Following the postponement of UEFA EURO 2020 to the summer of 2021 and after a thorough internal review as well as several discussions with partners, the UEFA Executive Committee decided that the tournament would still be known as EURO 2020. This decision allows UEFA to keep the original vision of the tournament, which was set to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the European Football Championship (1960–2020).

A statement from UEFA said, "It will furthermore serve as a reminder of how the whole football family came together to respond to the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic, and of the difficult times that Europe, and the world, had to go through in 2020. This choice is in line with UEFA's commitment to make UEFA EURO 2020 sustainable and not to generate additional amounts of waste. A lot of branded material had already been produced by the time of the tournament's postponement. A name change for the event would have meant the destruction and reproduction of such items."

While the original plan had 12 cities as hosts, UEFA has decided to kick off the event in 11 cities. The host cities are London, Seville, Glasgow, Copenhagen, Budapest, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Rome, Munich, Baku and Saint Petersburg.

Euro 2020 schedule

The group stages for Euro 2020 will commence from June 11 onwards. The top two teams in each group and the four best third-placed teams will go through to the round of 16. The teams will have a rest day on June 25. 

All the winners will then progress to the quarterfinals and the remaining teams will have a rest day on July 1. The winners from the last eight stage will advance to the semifinals. The teams will have rest days on July 5 and 6. The two finalists will have three rest days before the final on July 11. 

Image Credits - AP