The Union of European Football Associations said on Thursday that Cyprus, Greece, Hungary and Poland were neutral venues for UEFA matches if travel restrictions associated with COVID-19 prevented them from being held in the originally planned country.

Next season’s Champions League and Europa League qualifying rounds are due on 8 August to 1 October, but rapidly changing travel restrictions across Europe make it difficult to organise them.

On Thursday, UEFA said that Greece, Cyprus, Hungary and Poland would provide “neutral venues” for the matches on the appointed dates, and the authorities of these countries would provide the opportunity to play without any restrictions.

In the rules published on Tuesday, UEFA said the clubs should offer an alternative venue for games in a neutral country if travel restrictions put the match in danger.

The clubs will not be allowed to play unless they notify UEFA of the restrictions in advance or if the restrictions are imposed less than 48 hours before the match.

UEFA has already reduced qualifying matches to one, except for the Champions League playoff round.

UEFA has also decided that if one or more players from a team are identified as having COVID-19, the match will continue. Of course, if the national or local authorities of one or both clubs do not require a quarantine for the whole team.

A change of the match schedule will only be considered if the club has fewer than 13 players on the team.