BRUSSELS (BELGIUM) – While in Italy the football clubs are fighting to find an agreement on the resumption of the championship, in Belgium they have decided to say enough.
Before health, before the battle against coronavirus, the Belgian championship will never resume.
The Belgian football association has decided to freeze the current classification by assigning the league title to Bruges.
Bruges will participate in the next edition of the Champions League, while Gent will be forced to play the preliminary rounds. They will play the Europa League Charleroi and Antwerp.
The press release of the Belgian federation is reported by corrieredellosport.it.
“The Pro League board of directors met today via conference call. The most important item on the agenda was obviously the problem of continued competition in the context of the Coronavirus crisis.
The current, particularly precarious situation in which our country finds itself has the consequence that sport is not and cannot be considered the first concern, however fun and relaxing it can be.
In this context, it is the responsibility of the Board of Directors to make a recommendation to the General Assembly for the continuation of the competition, taking into account public health, the interests of all interested parties and the wishes of the majority of the clubs. do not resume the competition.
The Board of Directors took note of the recommendations of dr. Van Ranst and the authorities, according to whom matches with the public are very unlikely to take place before 30 June.
The current situation does not allow us to know if and when it is possible to plan a resumption of collective training.
Furthermore, a resumption of the competition could not exclude the health risks of the players, employees and all those involved in the organization of the matches and in maintaining order.
Furthermore, the possible contamination of a player or a group of players risks unacceptably influencing the sports development of the rest of the competition.
Even if closed matches are theoretically possible in theory, the additional pressure that the organization of such matches would exert on health services and law enforcement should be avoided.
Furthermore, the decisions of the local authorities threaten to make it impossible to carry out the championship days simultaneously. The Board of Directors unanimously decided that it was not desirable, regardless of the scenario envisaged, to continue the competition after 30 June.
Taking into account the above elements, the Board of Directors issued a unanimous opinion to the General Assembly in order not to resume the competitions of the 19-20 season and to accept the current classification of the Jupiler Pro League as a final classification (subject to the decisions of the Licensing Commission).
The board of directors has set up a working group (composed of Croonen, Louwagie, Cordier, Allijns, Bormans and the management of the Pro League) which will examine the sporting problems and financial implications of this decision.
The possibility of playing in the Croky Cup final and the return match of the Proximus League final will be among the topics covered in this working group. The General Assembly will be convened for Wednesday 15 April ".
Source: Blitz Quotidiano