UEFA cancel Under-19 Euro finals

By Simon Evans

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - UEFA have cancelled the planned finals of its Under-19 European Championships for both men and women due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the confederation said on Tuesday.

The men's tournament was due to be held in Romania from June 30 with the women's event schedule for Belarus from July 21.

The Romanian capital Bucharest is one of the 12 host cities for the postponed men's Euro 2020 tournament with UEFA expected to make a decision on the plans for that event on March 5.

"In making these decisions, the UEFA Executive Committee took note that, with the government restrictions currently in place the travelling of teams and staging of mini-tournaments would prove very difficult," UEFA said in a statement.

"The UEFA member associations were consulted and supported the decision. Although it is unfortunate that no youth competitions can take place in the current season, the health and safety of young athletes must be prioritized in the current circumstances," they added.

UEFA also decided to move the Futsal Champions League Finals from Belarus to Zagreb.

The governing body for European football are hoping that vaccination efforts will allow them to stick to their original plan for June's main pan-European tournament.

The 24-nation, month-long showpiece, a major revenue generator for UEFA and national federations across Europe, was postponed by 12 months after last year's COVID-19 outbreak.

The host cities are Glasgow, Dublin, Bilbao, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Munich, Rome, St Petersburg, Bucharest, Budapest and Baku, with the semis and final set for London's Wembley Stadium.

(Reporting by Simon Evans; Editing by Christian Radnedge)