Irresponsible to start any tournament without 100% safety: Infantino

Zurich, April 10 (IANS) The coronavirus pandemic has brought football around the world to a grinding halt and FIFA President Gianni Infantino said that it would be irresponsible to start any tournament without ensuring that the situation is 100 per cent safe.

“As our main priority, our principles, the ones we employ in our competitions and also we invite everyone to follow, is health comes first,” Goal.com quoted Infantino as saying. “As much as I emphasise it, it is not enough. It’s not worth putting at risk any human life for any game, any competition, nor any league. Everyone should have this clear in their minds,” he added.

“It would be more than irresponsible to restart the competitions if the situation is not safe 100 per cent. If you must wait a bit more time, we must do it. It is better to wait a bit more than taking risks,” he said.

Over the course of February and March, international competitions and club competitions — both domestic and continental — started suspending or postponing matches as COVID-19 gained steam around the world. The 2022 World Cup qualifiers, 2020 Euros and matches in the prestigious UEFA Champions League have all been postponed.

While there have been no new dates suggested for the World Cup qualifiers or the rest of the Champions League matches, UEFA said that the 16th Euros will now be held from June 11 to July 11, 2021.

–IANS

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