Luton boss Graeme Jones says that the postponement of Euro 2020 has provided an opportunity to complete the domestic season, if there is a significant suspension of fixtures due to the Coronavirus outbreak.
UEFA yesterday postponed this summer’s international tournament for a year, as one of the latest sporting events to be affected by the spread of Covid-19.
Luton have nine games left to play of the Championship season but are not due to return to action until at least the Reading game at home on April 4.
But the EFL are due to meet today to discuss a way forward for fixtures, with many expecting that a further delay will be announced at some point as governments all over the world battle to contain and delay the spread of Coronavirus.
Speaking of the UEFA’s decision to postpone the tournament to 2021, the Hatters boss: “I think it was the sensible decision, it still gives us, at the minute, an opportunity to finish domestic seasons.
“But I don’t think anybody has got a crystal ball in front of them and knows where this virus is going to go, how long it’s going to exist for, how incapacitated we will be with it.
“I think it’s like everywhere else, we’re all second guessing, but at least they’ve made a slot now if the season is extended, that there is that possibility, but how long’s a piece of string?”
Should Championship fixtures have to be played in the summer, Jones said: “They say the virus doesn’t like the heat, so that might be able to help, but this minute in time, we’re ready for whatever comes our way and if we have to play, we’re ready to play.
“That’s all we can do, prepare that way, at this minute in time, we’ve got a game on the fourth of April, so it’s business as usual, that’s the big thing.”
Jones has experience of international football after helping guide Belgium to a third place finish at the 2018 World Cup, and he believes UEFA’s decision could give elite level players a welcome rest.
He said: “If we’re talking about Euro 2020, I know what it’s like for the top players. The top players get to a tournament, two weeks off and then they go for another 50 weeks.
“So, I think it was the sensible decision to take, because really you’re looking back-to-back tournaments as in Euros and then the World Cup, but on this occasion, the (2022) Qatar World Cup was planned for December, for the winter, so it actually gives them a summer to play with to an extent where normally it would be back-to-back tournaments.”
