UEFA and Europe’s top clubs have stated their determination that the current football season should be played to a conclusion and threatened that teams may be excluded from the next Champions League if their domestic competitions are ended prematurely.
In a joint letter
released late on Thursday, UEFA, the European Club Association (ECA), and the
European Leagues body representing nearly a thousand clubs in 29 countries,
said that they were working on the possibility of playing on into July and
August if need be.
The Champions
League and Europa League—both of which are currently frozen in the last-16
stage – could be completed once the domestic seasons are finished, and “stopping
competitions should really be the last resort after acknowledging that no calendar
alternative would allow to conclude the season.”
The joint response
came after the Belgian Pro League announced on Thursday that it recommended
declaring the current season over already with the present table accepted as
final.
It is the first
European league to take such a measure, although more could follow.
That means Club
Brugge would in theory go straight into the next Champions League group stage,
but UEFA, the ECA and the European Leagues indicated that they may be barred
from continental competition if the Belgian league decision is finalised.
“It is of paramount
importance that even a disruptive event like this epidemic does not prevent our
competitions from being decided on the field, in accordance with their rules
and that all sporting titles are awarded on the basis of results,” the joint
letter said.
Not justified
“We are confident
that football can restart in the months to come – with conditions that will be
dictated by public authorities – and believe that any decision of abandoning
domestic competitions is, at this stage, premature and not justified.
“Since participation
in UEFA club competitions is determined by the sporting result achieved at the
end of a full domestic competition, a premature termination would cast doubts
about the fulfilment of such condition.”
The letter
concluded: “UEFA reserves the right to assess the entitlement of clubs to be
admitted to the 2020/21 UEFA club competitions.”
UEFA has set up two
working groups to devise a way for European football to get out of the crisis
caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
One is tasked with
looking at the legal and financial consequences of the crisis, while the other
is devising a new match calendar. UEFA and the clubs have set themselves a
mid-May target for deciding on the most viable option for completing the
season.
There have been
calls in other countries for this season to be declared null and void, but any
option which rules out completing this season could have serious consequences
for leagues reliant on huge television deals and who could find themselves
having to reimburse broadcasters if remaining matches are not played.
Justifying its
decision, the Belgian Pro League said it was “very unlikely” to be able to hold
matches in front of crowds before June 30 and that it had “unanimously decided
that it was not desirable…to continue the competition” after that date.
The decision still
needs to be formally validated at a General Assembly on April 15.
