Covid looms large as Euros preparations begin

Protocols are in place for a continent-wide tournament that will be affected by the global pandemic, but the threat of the virus is still very real

John Fleck has tested positive on the eve of the tournament (Getty Images)

It was already going to be a tournament like no other. And that was before a global pandemic.

Staging a football competition over multiple countries was always an ambitious concept with the logistics of moving hundreds of players and support staff and thousands more supporters around from place to place something never before done.

It was former Uefa president Michel Platini's "zany idea" - to use his words - with the hope, at least initially, that sending the 60th anniversary European Championships all over the continent was a way of returning the game "to the fans".