As the name suggests, Euro 2020 was supposed to take place last year, but the coronavirus pandemic forced UEFA to change those plans.
At a meeting on 17 March 2020, it was agreed that the tournament would be postponed until the following year to limit the risk to players, staff and supporters.
A month later, UEFA announced that, following discussions with its partners, the tournament would still be known as Euro 2020.
The reasoning behind preserving the original name was outlined in a statement on UEFA’s website, which read as follows:
“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).
“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.”
Significant changes had to be made to the football calendar to accommodate the postponement of Euro 2020, which starts next month.
The opening game, a Group A clash between Turkey and Italy, will take place in Rome’s Stadio Olimpico on 11 June.
England and World Cup holders France are amongst the favourites to win the tournament, while Belgium, Germany and Spain are also expected to be in contention.
