Delayed Olympics creates more conflict for European soccer

With the Tokyo Olympics delayed till 2021, European soccer is now looking at three major events all taking place in the same summer. How will teams fare?

The European soccer calendar was already complicated thanks to the coronavirus pandemic. But with the Tokyo Olympics delayed till 2021, their calendar just got even busier.

On March 17th, UEFA announced that the 2020 Euros would be delayed until 2021. This already created a conflict on the calendar — the 2021 Women’s Euros are supposed to take place the same summer. Various options have been discussed, including holding the tournaments at different times and possibly delaying the women’s tournament till 2022, but nothing is official yet.

Now, the International Olympic Committee has further complicated the European schedule by delaying the Tokyo Olympics to 2021. For women’s teams that are supposed to be competing in both tournaments — the Netherlands, Great Britain, and Sweden — this creates an impossible situation. Even if the tournaments don’t directly overlap, will these teams really be expected to play two major tournaments within a few months of each other?

This also could create a viewership issue. While the men’s European championship will be less impacted by the Olympics — the men’s tournament in the Olympics features the under-23 teams, while the women’s competition sports the senior teams — the men’s Euros could still be impacted by competition for viewership. The men’s Euros is usually the second most-watched sporting event in the world, after the men’s World Cup. But an even more crowded sports calendar could lead to a drop in viewership for the men. And if the women’s Euros still takes place in 2021, the consequences for viewership could be devastating.

The Olympics is carefully designed not to conflict with any other major sporting events. There are lots of decisions left to be made and many questions still unanswered. Organizers have a steep hill to climb.