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Nations League May Be Played At Neutral Venues

By BBC
Football News The 2020-21 Nations League group stage will take place in September, October and November
AUG 6, 2020 LISTEN
The 2020-21 Nations League group stage will take place in September, October and November

Some of next month's Nations League fixtures may have to be played at neutral venues, Uefa has announced.

England are set to play Iceland and Denmark on 5 and 8 September.

Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales all have home and away games which include trips to the Czech Republic, Romania and Finland respectively.

However, Uefa is conscious that travel between some countries may be prohibited because of restrictions relating to the coronavirus pandemic.

The matter was discussed at a meeting of all 55 member associations of European football's governing body on Thursday.

"The possibility of playing international matches at neutral matches cannot be discounted at this stage," said Uefa.

Of more immediate concern are the European club qualifiers that are due to take place this month.

Celtic, Aberdeen and Motherwell are all scheduled to play, as are all the qualifiers from Wales and Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland's Linfield play San Marino champions Tre Fiori in the first phase of the Champions League preliminary round tournament on Saturday.

Uefa has revealed Poland, Hungary, Greece and Cyprus have put themselves forward as neutral 'hubs' should they be required.

"In order to comply with travel restrictions and quarantine requirements issued by authorities, some matches may need to be moved to neutral countries or stadia," said Uefa.

"Some of the stadiums [in these countries] are available on the scheduled match dates, offering a travelling corridor to the teams playing without restrictions."

Uefa also plans further discussions later this month with the aim of "partially changing" the blanket decision for all matches to be played behind closed doors.

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