36 - 31

EPCR abandons plan for Marseille to host 2020 European finals, rejigs future finals schedule

09 Jul 2020

(Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

This season’s Heineken Champions and Challenge Cup finals will not be played in Marseille after EPCR officials finally admitted defeat in trying to stick to their original plan to host the European showpieces in the French port city. The finals had initially been scheduled for last May.

Despite the suspension of the European campaign due to the coronavirus pandemic outbreak, tournament officials had insisted during the layoff that the plan was to still host these games in Marseille. However, EPCR have now changed tack, explaining that the 2019/20 finals will be held at yet to be decided venues while also adjusting the finals schedule for future years.

To ensure Marseille is not completely abandoned, officials have now stated that the 2020/21 finals will be held in the French city and the originally planned use of the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in London will be pushed back twelve months to instead host the 2021/22 finals.

Wasps and New Zealand’s Lima Sopoaga guests on The Lockdown, the RugbyPass pandemic interview series

Video Player is loading.

Current Time 0:00

Duration 24:40

Loaded: 0%

Stream Type LIVE

Remaining Time 24:40

Wasps and New Zealand’s Lima Sopoaga guests on The Lockdown, the RugbyPass pandemic interview series

A statement released on Thursday read: “Due to the many uncertainties created by the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been decided that the 2020 Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals will not now be held in Marseille as planned and the matches will be played at a new venue or venues.

“With tens of thousands of fans scheduled to travel to the south of France, the board of EPCR and the local organising committee have agreed that insufficient safeguards are currently in place during the public health crisis to stage two high-profile matches at the 67,000-capacity Stade Velodrome.

Missed tonight's #HeinekenChampionsCupRewind Special with five of the best refs around? ?
Don't worry, you can rewatch it any time at the top of our main channel ? pic.twitter.com/zkN4jRiu8t
— Investec Champions Cup (@ChampionsCup) July 8, 2020

“As a consequence, EPCR is currently working with its shareholder leagues and unions to secure an alternative venue or venues for the two finals which will be played on the weekend of October 16/17/18 and details will be announced as soon as practicable.

“As part of this adjustment to its future planning, EPCR is pleased to announce that Marseille will now host the 2021 Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup finals at the Stade Velodrome on the weekend of May 21/22, and that the matches at the 62,000-capacity Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London will be rescheduled for 2022.

“Tickets for this season’s finals will be valid for the 2021 weekend with no change to category or seating, and all ticket holders will be contacted by email within the next 48 hours with details of how to avail of a full refund if required.

“As previously communicated, the quarter-finals of both 2019/20 tournaments will be played on the weekend of September 18/19/20 with the semi-finals scheduled for the weekend of September 25/26/27. Exact dates, venues, kick-off times and TV coverage will be announced as soon as possible.

“As is now customary during the pandemic, the matches will be subject to government guidelines with the health and welfare of players, club staff, match officials, supporters and the wider rugby community to the fore.”

2020 EPCR dates
Quarter-finals: weekend of September 18/19/20
Semi-finals: weekend of September 25/26/27
Heineken Champions Cup final: weekend of October 16/17/18 (venue TBC)
Challenge Cup final: weekend of October 16/17/18 (venue TBC)
Start of 2020/21 season: weekend of December 11/12/13

Heck of a lot of ability in this XV https://t.co/LkligKBuLd
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 8, 2020

Argentina v France | HSBC SVNS Hong Kong 2025 | Men's Match Highlights

New Zealand v Australia | HSBC SVNS Hong Kong 2025 | Women's Match Highlights

Tokyo Sungoliath vs Shizuoka BlueRevs | Japan Rugby League One 2024/25 | Full Match Replay

Reds vs Force | Super Rugby W 2025 | Full Match Replay

Behind the Scenes with the Australian Rugby Sevens Team in Hong Kong | HSBC SVNS Embedded | Episode 9

The Rise of Kenya | The Report

New Zealand in Hong Kong | Brady Rush | Sevens Wonders | Episode 4

The Fixture: How This Rugby Rivalry Has Lasted 59 Years

Comments

0 Comments

Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Latest Features

LONG READ

Four Australians moving into contention to face the Lions

Reds prop Alex Hodgman, ACT blindside Tom Hooper, NSW No.8 Langi Gleeson and Force No.10 Ben Donaldson are all pushing hard for selection.

LONG READ

How does a World Rugby consultant help emerging nations?

Often unseen but hugely influential, these wise rugby owls play a crucial part in growing the sport across the world.

LONG READ

Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

The wily duo, combined with a Moneyball-style approach, could build on the impressive foundations laid by Joe Schmidt.

Comments on RugbyPass

SL 14 minutes ago

Dwayne Peel: 'Ropey is probably an understatement... there was error after error'

Was strange game, full of errors and the usual refereeing decisions. Both teams suffered as a result but Ospreys discipline was a major factor. I think this weekend will be different as the Ospreys will pick a full strength team but Scarlets will gain confidence in the fact that only Tipuric was missing in the forwards and they dominated that pack for the whole 80 minutes. If they can repeat that dominance at scrum and breakdown then the Scarlets backs will always have more to offer on the front foot.

1 Go to comments

SL 25 minutes ago

Duhan van der Merwe's Lions tour thrown into doubt

All non-British and Irish players should be excluded anyway. It should be for players born in the UK and Ireland not imports on residency! The Barbarians have sold out and are now a predominantly a SH team and the Lions are going the same way. It would be interesting to see what is on VDM’s passport, probably still South Africa. I feel quite strongly on this and would hope that the Lions committee see it the same way but money talks and so the decline begins.

2 Go to comments

Mzilikazi 38 minutes ago

Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

Might work very well, Nick. Les Kiss as DoR and Stuart Lancaster as chief coach. Two very good rugby men working in tandem. Certainly worked out well at Leinster for Stuart. In some ways a similar situation exists for him now, as did when he moved to Dublin. Rejected by England then, this time rejected by Racing.

59 Go to comments

fl 47 minutes ago

Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

He’ll be well into his 60s by then. Given the drop off so many top coaches seem to experience as they get older (e.g. Jones, Gatland) Kiss could be a riskier appointment than you’d think!

Coaching seems to be a young mans game. Rassie is 52 (so won his first RWC aged 46), Robertson 50, Farrell 49, Borthwick 45. Galthié is a little older at 56, but would you back him to still be an international coach 8 years time?

59 Go to comments

Mitch 56 minutes ago

Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

The Reds have an Englishman on their staff and are doing well.

59 Go to comments

IkeaBoy 1 hour ago

'He's a special player': Lawrence Dallaglio backs Henry Pollock to be Lions bolter

Agree. He has obvious talent but is up against 60-70 test cap players and even a few hybrids who can cover 6,7,8. I’d say JVDF is nailed on if only because - remarkably - he’s never yet toured with the lions. The remainder are still some way ahead of Pollock.

Still bodes well for England. A young lad coming straight up from a current U20’s campaign and into the senior squad.

2 Go to comments

Cantab 1 hour ago

'I'm really disappointed': Former All Blacks disagree with Anzac Test outcome

The answer to that is that a match played outside of the normal test window should be treated as a one off match and not counted as a Bledisloe cup match. Aussie are still short of the quality required to lift that trophy in the foreseeable future anyway. Been a long time since they were !!!!

2 Go to comments

Tom 1 hour ago

Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

You can't help but feel there may be a slight conflict of interest with this article!

My hunch is that Lancaster may work best with another man as the DoR so would be keen to see how this goes. Potentially culminating with the redemption arc victory for England under Lanny and Faz at the 2031 RWC?!

59 Go to comments

Stephen Richard 1 hour ago

Fin Smith: Northampton Saints face battle to keep England star

Do you need help on how to recover lost or stolen crypto from a fake forex broker or investment platforms? Contact ghostchampionwizard[at]gmail,com for an outclass service. This team can help you recover your coins without being in a hurry for you to pay for the services and the work smart and genuinely i was involved in an online investment platforms where i invested over $399,541 via USDT and i was happy when i saw the profit imagined that i got in less than a month of investment i tried to withdraw the profit from my trading wallet but unluckily the request for $10,980 as withdrawal fee which i told them that i don't have money to pay for that within a second the log me out from accessing my platform which lead me to in search of a hacker for help me recover my funds, Recovering lost Bitcoin or Usdt can require unique hacking skills and expertise that are possessed by only a handful of professional hackers. While there are many recovery websites out there, it's important to be cautious as 99% of them are operated by scammers who try to appear legitimate. GHOST CHAMPION HACKING SERVICES Their team conducted a thorough investigation to trace the money and identify the perpetrators behind the Fake platform. They used advanced technology and cybersecurity expertise to track the stolen funds. They worked tirelessly to recover every cent that was taken from me. Their team kept me informed throughout the process and gave me regular updates on their progress. For those of you trying to get back your stolen money, WhatsApp : +44 7383450230 for inquiries.you can get in touch with GHOST CHAMPION HACKING SERVICES so they can help you.EMAIL ( ghostchampionwizard@gmail.com ) and TELEGRAM ID:https://t.me/WizardGhosthacker

10 Go to comments

Stephen Richard 1 hour ago

Fin Smith: Northampton Saints face battle to keep England star

10 Go to comments

JW 1 hour ago

Razor has an about turn on All Blacks eligibility rules

I’m not sure he needs much of an excuse, or an angle, to beat his drum. He seems to be giving Razor credit, or as a proxy of his own, for far too many of the ideas we come up with in his articles.

He’s definitely wrong about Dmac too, yes. Pretty much everything he said, in either the words he used or the way he said, was off in that interview. Said Dmac was a “linebreaker” like what, hello, with his pass? The one question I thought they were close to getting right and actually being worthwhile, other than a few bits to Robinson on the running side, was when they asked about valuing experience and youth in his second year. Really missed the boat there as they got a mundane answer, needed to be more direct and ask how does the balance between selecting experience, the players that have class, and those players that in form change now that you’re into your second year. Would he flat out deny any change, or would there have been some honesty about how little it would be. He’d be proud enough to presume he was perfect last year so he’ll obviously been taking the same ‘perfect’ approach this year! One telling tid bit was when he made up some numbers about new caps going through a World Cup cycle, where he had 10 one year, 5 the next, a couple.. and stated that youve also got to be open to ‘bolters’ so you “don’t shut any doors”.. sounds like some pretty weak innovation incoming.

25 Go to comments

Tom 1 hour ago

'He's a special player': Lawrence Dallaglio backs Henry Pollock to be Lions bolter

Pollock has a huge future but there are some great test hardened flankers who will miss out. They'll take what 4 specialist flankers and potentially Earl as a 7.5 ? So 4 or 5 max. Already in contention are the likes of Earl, Curry, Curry, Morgan, JVDF. I don't think he'll make the cut but may get a call up due to an injury.

2 Go to comments

NB 2 hours ago

Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

It is one of life’s easier jobs Graham🤣

59 Go to comments

NB 2 hours ago

Why Les Kiss and Stuart Lancaster can lead Australia to glory

An don the inside of the WB coaching group they use the Boks as a model for that!