Domestic football could be played this summer after UEFA postponed the European Championship by a year.

The summer tournament has been put back to 2021 amid the disruption to the sporting calendar caused by the coronavirus.

The move could enable domestic leagues to complete their seasons later in the year, although it remains extremely unclear when things will be able to resume.

The news was first revealed by the Norwegian Football Association ahead of official confirmation, following today's conference call of 55 European national fotball associations.

In a tweet, Norway's FA said: “Uefa has decided that the European Championship is postponed to 2021.

“It will be played from 11 June to 11 July next year. More information coming.”

That information duly came in the form of an official statement in which UEFA said it was an "unprecedented solidarity move".

UEFA said: "The health of all those involved in the game is the priority, as well as to avoid placing any unnecessary pressure on national public services involved in staging matches.

"The move [to postpone Euro 2020] will help all domestic competitions, currently on hold due to the Covid-19 emergency, to be completed.

"All UEFA competitions and matches (including friendlies) for clubs and national teams for both men and women have been put on hold until further notice. The UEFA EURO 2020 play-off matches and international friendlies, scheduled for the end of March, will now be played in the international window at the start of June, subject to a review of the situation.

"A working group has been set up with the participation of leagues and club representatives to examine calendar solutions that would allow for the completion of the current season and any other consequence of the decisions made today."

UEFA president Aleksander Čeferin said: "We are at the helm of a sport that vast numbers of people live and breathe that has been laid low by this invisible and fast-moving opponent. It is at times like these that the football community needs to show responsibility, unity, solidarity and altruism."

"Moving EURO 2020 comes at a huge cost for UEFA but we will do our best to ensure that the vital funding for grassroots, women's football and the development of the game in our 55 countries is not affected."

Čeferin added that playing Euro 2020 games behind closed doors was a "joyless" thought and one they could not accept.

The postponement of the tournament was widely expected given the disruption to normal life, as well as travel between countries, caused by the pandemic.

Domestic leagues have been waiting for news from the UEFA conference ahead of further meetings to try and figure out the way forward.

The EFL board will meet tomorrow with the Premier League meeting on Thursday.

The former said this week that no decisions had yet been made on the potential resumption of games at Carlisle United's level.

Matches have been suspended until April 3 but it seems unlikely things will get back under way then given the scale of the Covid-19 outbreak and measures on social contact advised by the Government this week.

Euro 2020 was due to be held from June 12 to July 12 in 12 countries, including London, Glasgow and Dublin. Wembley was due to host seven matches, including the semi-finals and the final.

The 2020 Copa America has also been postponed until next year.