European football’s governing body will demand compensation of about £275 million from its clubs and leagues to postpone Euro 2020 by a year in response to the coronavirus pandemic.



This is what UEFA estimates it will cost to push the European Championships back by 12 months to June 2021 and was intended to be relayed to European football’s stakeholders in emergency meetings on Tuesday, during which it will be confirmed the tournament will be delayed by a year.



The clear priority of member leagues and clubs is to somehow complete the current season rather than abort competitions and treat the existing standings as final or rule the campaign null and void, given the numerous legal challenges that would be guaranteed to arise as a result.



Despite the scale and unpredictability of the global COVID-19 outbreak, most European leagues and clubs are understood to retain hope that their competitions can still be finished in May and...