UEFA to set July 31 deadline

UEFA and the ECA have reportedly agreed to terminate domestic leagues by the end of July, leaving August clear for the Champions and Europa Leagues.

According to Spanish newspaper AS, the European Club Association has committed to ensuring all the domestic league campaigns have come to a natural conclusion by July 31.

This would then leave August for the remaining Champions League and Europa League fixtures.

The only Serie A clubs still involved in Europe at that stage would be Juventus, Napoli, Atalanta, Inter and Roma.

UEFA and the ECA have reportedly agreed to terminate domestic leagues by the end of July, leaving August clear for the Champions and Europa Leagues.

According to Spanish newspaper AS, the European Club Association has committed to ensuring all the domestic league campaigns have come to a natural conclusion by July 31.

This would then leave August for the remaining Champions League and Europa League fixtures.

The only Serie A clubs still involved in Europe at that stage would be Juventus, Napoli, Atalanta, Inter and Roma.

Italy are hoping to resume their football from May 27-31, which would see the Serie A season conclude by July 15.

If the domestic league could not be finished, as is the case in the Netherlands and Belgium, then UEFA have reportedly decided to leave the matter to each national federation.

UEFA co-efficient will not be used to calculate who gets into Europe, but rather each country would work out its own criteria.

The most important thing is to have a list of teams who qualify for the next tournament by July 31.

When it comes to domestic cup competitions, such as the Coppa Italia, it’s probable their European spot would go to whoever was higher up the table.

This would be a blow for Milan and Napoli, who are in the Coppa Italia semi-finals, but lagging behind in Serie A, so hoped that this could be their route to the Europa League.

The matter will be discussed in the UEFA summit tomorrow, after two days of conference calls with representatives from the 55 member nations.