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LAUSANNE, July 30, 2020 - The UEFA Champions League is back. What had appeared a logistical and scheduling impossibility three months ago is being achieved by the belief and persistence of the European football federation and its major clubs.

To mark the resumption of the world’s No1 international club event AIPS is convening its own seminar next Tuesday, August 4. Journalists from all around the globe can review the tournament so far and kick around their expectations – not only of the current competition but whatever its future may hold.

For example, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has insisted that the forthcoming final-eight tournament in Portugal is a one-off event to meet the crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic. But is this single-nation hosting of the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final perhaps an accidental blueprint for the future?

The seminar is the latest in a project launched shortly after lockdown by AIPS. This featured first a highly successful Young Reporters course and then an acclaimed four-part debate about the challenges for women in the sports media.

Overseeing the seminar will be AIPS president Gianni Merlo. Assists will be provided by two of the most experienced of international sports journalists in Martin Mazur from Argentina and London-based Keir Radnedge, chair of the AIPS Foootball Commission.

The event will be held with simultaneous interpretations in Arabic, English, French and Spanish, which will be accessible from the smartphone by downloading the app “Interprefy”.

Ahead of the extravaganza in Portugal, the Champions League round of 16 must first be completed. This means return ties on August 7 and 8 featuring Juventus v Lyon, Manchester City v Real Madrid, Bayern Munich v Chelsea then Barcelona v Napoli.

Subsequently all eyes will be on Lisbon for the quarter-finals on August 12-15, semi-finals on August 18-19 and final in the Estadio do Benfica on August 23.

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