Like many other major leagues and sports in the US and around the world are cancelled because of the Coronavirus pandemic, there is possibly some optimistic news coming from the European soccer front.
Similar to the MLS in the US, where many Major League Soccer executives and team managers are hoping for a full 2020 season, the Europeans are also urging for soccer to resume.
So it has been announced that a European top soccer authorities are putting together plans to reinstate the continent’s top soccer leagues, which are followed by many soccer fans in Europe and around the world. Still containing the Coronavirus pandemic and protecting the safety of players, staff and fans, UEFA has communicated to the leagues the initial aim to resume soccer throughout Europe by July/August.
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) is the main body regulating soccer in Europe. It consists of 55 member nations, and hosts many nation and club competitions, most notably the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.
As well as UEFA’s various leagues and competitions, they also have a say in the world’s top European Soccer Leagues- including the English Premier League, which continues to provide many players to the American Major League of Soccer. Probably the most famous being David Beckham, ex-Manchester United player, now owner of MLS expansion club, Inter Miami CF.
More British players that were featured in MLS were Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard (both also previous Premier League players) have played for D.C United and NYFC respectively, just to name a few.
Some other Leagues UEFA have a degree of control over include the Spanish La Liga, the German Bundesliga, the Italian Serie A and the French Ligue 1. So, in conclusion, yeah: UEFA is a pretty big deal in European soccer affairs.
On April 2nd, a letter signed by the heads of UEFA, the European Club Association and European Leagues body was released, outlining the decision that competitions are to be “decided on the field”.
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, EL President Lars-Christer Olsson and ECA Chairman Andrea Angelli stressed the importance of not yet abandoning any outstanding games, leagues or tournaments:
“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,”
“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.”
Which is why it was quite surprising when the Belgian Football Association (URBSFA) directly disobeyed UEFA’s warnings and cancelled the rest of the season for the Belgian top-flight soccer league.
The letter came on the same day that Belgian soccer officials decided that the Belgian league- the Jupiler Pro League- was to be cancelled and announced in their own statement: “the Board of Directors has formulated a unanimous advice to the General Meeting not to resume the competitions of the season 19-20 and to accept the current state of the Jupiler Pro League as final classification.”
If this action were to go ahead, it would mean that Club Brugge KV would end up league winners. Brugge finished the unfinished season with one matchday to go prior to playoffs, and held a comfortable 15-point lead over AA Gent, who stand at second place. However, this decision was not well-received by UEFA, and could end up backfiring on Belgian Soccer Teams.
For the most part, the top 2-3 teams from the top 6 European soccer leagues qualify automatically for the UEFA Champions League-meaning that Belgium’s Club Brugge KV should have a guaranteed Champions League place. However, the letter casts uncertainty over this, and insinuates that Brugge’s supposedly-secured group stage position is in jeopardy if the season’s early end is confirmed:
“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 action of suspending the Belgian soccer league could result in Belgian teams missing out on a Champions League place, and consequently at least 33 million dollars from UEFA.
UEFA have assembled 2 working groups, which are working on options of extending the soccer season beyond the current planned season end- date (June 30th). There have also been further task forces assembled to deal with legal, financial and social implications, in an attempt to contain the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on European soccer.
Not only is this interesting for American soccer fans, but also the top brass of US professional soccer. As Don Garber, the MLS Commissioner said in an interview that the top-flight soccer league in America is considering plans and options to resume the MLS season. Garber also noted that Major League Soccer executives are following closely European leagues such as the English Premier League and the German Bundesliga.
