UEFA lifts Saturday afternoon TV blackout for England, Scotland
UEFA's move is seen a step towards restarting some domestic competitions in Britain behind closed doors in order to complete the season.
Published : Apr 04, 2020 16:57 IST
UEFA has lifted a ban on the live screening of Premier League games kicking off at 3:00 pm in England and Scotland for the rest of the season.
The blackout has long been in place to protect attendances at matches.
The move by European football’s governing body is seen a step towards restarting some domestic competitions in Britain behind closed doors in order to complete the season, interrupted by the coronavirus crisis.
A UEFA statement read: “UEFA has lifted the ‘blocked hours’ protection granted to the UEFA member associations for England and Scotland for the remainder of the 2019/20 football season, following requests from the relevant national associations as a result of measures taken in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The virus has caused mass postponements across league and cup competitions. Football chiefs said on Friday that the game in Britain was on hold “until it is safe to resume“.
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UEFA has warned that clubs in competitions that it deems have been cancelled prematurely may not be eligible to play in next season’s Champions League or Europa League.
It followed a move from the Belgian football league to recommend that the current season be declared finished early due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the present table accepted as final.
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The Premier League and English Football League remain committed to completing the 2019/20 season.
It was reported earlier this week that a World Cup-style camp is one solution being considered by Premier League clubs as a way of completing the campaign.