In order to fight the ongoing spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) has announced that it will push the Copa America back until 2021.

CONMEBOL President Alejandro Domínguez, along with the authorities from the 10 member associations, decided that the 47th edition will be played on June 11 to July 11, 2021. They argued that the priority is to protect the health and safety of the teams, fans, media and host cities.

“It is an extraordinary measure for an unexpected situation, and therefore it answers to the fundamental need to avoid an exponential expansion of the virus. It wasn’t an easy decision for CONMEBOL, but we must safeguard the health of our athletes in South America,” Dominguez said. “I have no doubt that the tournament will return with renewed strength in 2021,” he added.

Dominguez also highlighted the collaboration with UEFA and its President Aleksander Čeferin for the joint work and coordinated decision to postpone the Euro 2020 to next year “for the benefit of the entire football family”.

Moreover, FIFA President Gianni Infantino confirmed that the association had received the request from CONMEBOL to postpone the 2020 Copa America, and explained that the Bureau of the Council will discuss different tournament dates in the upcoming days.

“I will suggest [to the Bureau of the Council] to accept the postponements of the CONMEBOL 2020 Copa América and the UEFA EURO 2020 to June-July of 2021, and to decide at a later stage – when there is more clarity on the situation – when to reschedule the new FIFA Club World Cup, later in 2021, in 2022 or in 2023,” he revealed.

“Challenging circumstances offer the opportunity for people to come together, show what they can do in a collective spirit, and emerge stronger and better prepared for the future. And this is what FIFA is aiming to do here,” Infantino concluded.