UEFA have officially announced the postponement of the Elite Phases of the Men’s and Women’s U19 and U17 European Championships, “in light of the measures taken to fight the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Europe and the various travel restrictions imposed by governments”. The competitions had reached the Elite Phase, the second round of qualification to determine the finalists of the respective tournaments, with the games scheduled for mid-March to mid-April. The statement from UEFA read as follows: “This is a general precautionary measure, imposed in order to avoid the scenario that players (many of whom are still minors) might be trapped away from their families should the involved governments declare a state of total lockdown or quarantine. Further information on the rescheduling of these competitions will be released in due course after the careful consideration of all possible alternatives.”

Round Five of the Elite Phase for the U19 European Championship was set to take place in Italy, with the games being played in Padua and the surrounding area.

Alberto Bollini’s Azzurrini made it through to the Elite Phase after topping their group with three wins over Malta (2-0), Cyprus (2-0) and Slovakia (3-0) in November, and were set to face Norway, Iceland and Slovenia in their pursuit of a place in the finals in Northern Ireland from 19 July to 1 August.

Meanwhile, the Under-17s were due to play in Poland after a stunning first round with three wins over Luxembourg (6-0), Northern Ireland (2-0) and Turkey (4-0). This round would have seen them play Montenegro, Poland and Wales.

The Women’s Under-19s were due to fly to Portugal to face France, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the hosts, having come second in their group in Siena after a 1-0 loss to Russia in their final game after two wins over Slovenia (3-1) and Estonia (5-0). The Women’s U17s had games in Belgium, where they were set to face Greece, Switzerland and the hosts after having successfully qualified from the first round with maximum points from their games against Montenegro (2-0), Northern Ireland and Scotland (4-0).