UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin speaks at the 44th UEFA Congress at Beur van Berlage on March 03, 2020 in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has provided an optimistic update on plans to finish this season's Champions League and Europa League competitions behind closed doors.
Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur were both knocked out of the respective competitions just before football came to a halt due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
However, Chelsea remain in the Champions League, although their hopes of progressing to the quarter-finals are slim after a 3-0 home defeat to Bayern Munich in the first leg of their tie.
However, with the Bundesliga returning this weekend and the Premier League still hopeful of getting Project Restart agreed, Ceferin is adamant the cross-continent competitions will be finished as well.
“We have a concrete plan of finishing the European season," Ceferin told beIN SPORTS.
"Of course, this summer we will have to play without spectators at the stadiums. I think the majority of leagues will finish the season. The ones who will not, it’s their decision.
"But they will still have to play qualifiers if they want to participate in the European UEFA competition."
It remains to be seen what UEFA's plans are to finishing the European competitions, having already moved EURO2020 back by one year to next summer.
On the logistics of how a resumption will work, Ceferin added: "We have an idea but we have to wait for the executive committee of UEFA to confirm the dates. I can say that the European season will be finished, if everything is as it is now, in August. As things look now, I’m sure… that we can finish the European season and this means UEFA competition.
“The national leagues are a separate thing and they will decide separately how they want to proceed. But as I said before, I think at least 80 per cent will finish the season.
“For now, it looks as though the calendar will not be affected much, especially the calendar of UEFA competitions. The calendar is very dense, so we don’t have much space to change things.
“Football brings positive energy. It’s easier to be home if you can watch sports! So I think it’s a great [example of] cooperation between the German league and the German government. I hope, and think, they will be very successful."
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