European Rugby Cup Ltd (ERC) have confirmed the dates for next season's Heineken European Cup and Shield competitions. The initial fixture schedule proposed encountered problems because the various national broadcasters could not guarantee live coverage in September due to a commitment to transmitting coverage of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

The start of the competitions have now been put back two weeks and will begin in October. There will be four rounds played that month and the competitions will then take a sabbatical until January 2001 when there will be a further two rounds. The quarter-finals will also take place in January, the semi-finals in April and the finals scheduled for either May 19th or 20th.

The draw proper incorporating the teams is expected to be announced next week. The seedings will be based, according to country, on a five year meritocracy system. England are the top ranked country followed by France and then Ireland.