What Planet Football Are Dimwitted UEFA Living On?

They know there’s no chance of the ball coming back out this season but they’re so scared of losing a fortune they’re not dealing in reality

-  Keith Jackson

It's been 10 days since this newspaper first revealed the likely impact of the coronavirus crisis on football in the UK.

In that time almost everything else about our daily lives has changed immeasurably. The fact remains this game of ours, which means so very much to so very many, will most probably be locked down until August, perhaps even later than that.

As unpalatable as this prospect may seem, it’s worth reiterating as the time has come to accept the reality as well as to confront it and deal with its inevitable consequences.

The truth of the matter is too many of those in charge of football all across Europe have been in a state of denial up until this point.

UEFA, for example, appear to be clinging to the belief the ball can come back out of the cupboard in just a few weeks from now to enable the Champions League and Europa League to be completed over the months of April, May and June.

If ever there was a time to ask what planet these people live on then it is surely now.

Likewise, down south, England’s Premier League is officially on hold until April 30 but a “best-case scenario” plan is being drawn up that would see this season’s leftovers served up from the start of June.

All this comes at a moment in time when the medical advice suggests this global pandemic will not even have reached its peak in Britain by then, let alone eased to the extent life might be able to return to some sort of normality.

In Italy, some remain adamant Serie A matches could begin again as soon as May, which is bordering on moronic given the latest figures which show around 793 deaths from COVID-19 across the country on Saturday alone.