Further Postponement of Champions League Announced by CONCACAF

(Please note: CONCACAF’s statement referred to in this article pertains only to the CONCACAF League, and not the CONCACAF Champions League as incorrectly stated below. The only Canadian club it affects in that particular competition is CanPL’s Forge FC. CONCACAF has yet to issue a statement in relation to the resumption of its Champions League - Paul Vance, 24 June 2020).

Yesterday in Miami CONCACAF issued a statement on its website postponing further the resumption of its Scotiabank-sponsored, Champions League competition.

The tournament was to resume on July 28, however the governing body has spoken, deciding to wait a little longer given the situation with the pandemic in some of its member countries.

The confederation did announce it is encouraged by some leagues within its umbrella of influence which have resumed playing or which plan soon to do so.

The statement in full reads...

“The thoughts of everyone at Concacaf remain with the communities across our region affected by COVID-19.

“We continue to work with our stakeholders to ensure we are well prepared to restart our competitions as soon as it is safe to do so. We are encouraged by the leagues across our confederation which have resumed play, or have firm plans to do so in the coming weeks.

“Our club competitions are dependent on the resumption of several domestic leagues and, as some remain in an uncertain position, we have made the decision to postpone the start of the 2020 Scotiabank Concacaf League, which was scheduled to begin on July 28.

“We will continue to discuss with our Member Associations, Leagues, clubs and other stakeholders proposals for the Scotiabank Concacaf League to begin in the coming months.”

Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

As things stand, Montreal Impact must travel to the Honduran capital, Tegucigalpa to play the quarter-final second-leg against CD Olimpia.

Being a goal down and conceding twice in the home leg it’s become a tall order for the Impact to prevail over Olimpia, who rarely lose Champions League games at home.

Montreal must go there, win and score at least twice in 90 mins. The task could be made slightly easier should the game go ahead behind closed doors, away from the influence of Olimpia’s passionate fanbase, or if the remainder of the competition is played out in one country, similar to what’s about to happen with the closing stages of UEFA’s Champions League.

An opportunity for Canada to host perhaps especially if the sponsor wishes to exert influence?