Belgian Championship could set a precedent across Europe

The Belgian Football League announced yesterday that it is due to conclude its championship on the 15th of April indicating the current classification of the competition as the one that will be the final. Thus, Club Brugge will be the Belgian champion as expected, but can this have followers in the most important European leagues?

A VERY SPECIFIC CASE

Naturally, this situation of the Belgian Championship seems to be a little more accessible to deal with than in other cases of more media and close leagues. In fact, Club Brugge was parading through the league of its country with 15 points more than the 2nd classified and he could hardly miss the national title.

Still, the fight for the remaining places of access to European competitions was fierce and everything could happen so clubs like Standard de Liége, Antwerp or Charleroi may not have been pleased with the possibility of this decision becoming a reality.

Anyway, this was a suggestion made by the Belgian League that will only take effect from April 15th, that is, until then there will still be a lot of ink running, and the evolution of the pandemic case will also be decisive for an eventual change of ideas .

UEFA IS NOT AGREED

Logically, UEFA does not agree with this decision making as it recently indicated that the leagues could be concluded by the beginning of August, meaning that making such a decision at this stage seems hasty and clearly early. Many other European leagues could see this solution as a viable option, but this would lead to an authentic battle of arguments between clubs benefited and harmed by it.

Let’s look at the national example: FC Porto are leaders with just one more point than Benfica, ten games before the end of the Liga NOS. Thus, it is evident that everything would still be open in the fight for the national title and a decision of this kind would greatly displease the red.

Also Portimonense, who is now six points from leaving the relegation zone, would see this decision as harmful to their future as it would dictate their immediate relegation and prevent them from fighting for the 30 points still at stake that could save them that destination.

RENHIDOS CHAMPIONSHIP GERARIA CONTEMPORARY

But perhaps more media than in the national case, it would be the example of La Liga where Barcelona lead the competition with two more points than Real Madrid with eleven games at the end of the season. In practice, these two points are equivalent to only one because Real Madrid have an advantage in the direct confrontation and a simple tie from the Catalans would allow the Merengues to regain the leadership.

With 33 points at stake, it is clear that the Madrid squad would be furious if the season ended at the point where it is. Another funny example would be Atlético de Madrid, who, having an excellent campaign in the Champions League, have been disappointed in the Spanish League and currently occupy the 6th position of the table. If it ended, the Colchoneros would miss their presence in the next League of Champions for the first time since 2012.

And also in the fight for maintenance we would have mosquitoes trapped by ropes, since currently the last six of the table are separated by only nine points with 33 still to be disputed, and everything remains open.

DECISION WILL ONLY BE EQUATED IN LAST RESOURCE

In short, the idea that remains of all this is that ending campaigns as they are should be the last solution of all, taken only when there are no alternatives.

Let’s imagine the scenario in which the Covid-19 pandemic continues until the month of June uninterruptedly. There, it will be very difficult to complete the national leagues and European competitions and the solution for completing them at the point where they were gaining more relevance and meaning.

Until then, we will pray that the situation will be controlled to the point of at least allowing competitions to resume behind closed doors until the safety of people is no longer in question. As is usually said, for extreme situations – extreme measures. Even so, I believe that we have not yet reached the point of despair where the leaders of the leagues have to make decisions that, of course, could start internal guerrillas.

We sincerely hope that this will not be necessary for the good of football, after all, what we all want is that football continues within weeks and that all championships are concluded, giving the title to the most regular teams throughout the whole time.