EUROPA League
BELGIAN FEDERATION IN UEFA TALKS OVER DECISION ON SUDDEN END TO ITS SEASON
The Belgian Football Association (KBVB) announced on Saturday (April 4) that it is working with UEFA towards a “constructive” solution regarding the premature end to the Belgian championship.
On Thursday, the Belgian Pro League recommended that the season be declared finished owing to the coronavirus pandemic with the current table accepted as final. It became the first European league to propose such a measure, though others could follow.
On Friday, UEFA, the governing body of European football, in a joint statement with the European Club Association and the European Leagues, warned that “abandoning domestic competitions is, at this stage, premature and not justified”.
UEFA threatened to ban all teams from European competitions next season if they did not complete their league season.
The KBVB released a statement on Saturday saying that its president, Mehdi Bayat, had spoken to the president of the governing body of European football, Aleksander Ceferin.
The statement did not specify the nature of this “jointly” negotiated solution, saying only that the Belgian association would present the UEFA executive committee with its “recommendations for stopping its championship”.
The Pro League board’s voted unanimously on Thursday to advise its general assembly not to resume the 2019-2020 first division campaign.
Club Brugge, who are 15 points clear with one regular-season and 10 play-off matches to go, would become Belgian champions.
The AGM is expected to ratify this decision on April 15 but its board will present the proposal to UEFA’s executive committee.
The Belgian federation, which will also present its recommendations and aims to “preserve Belgium’s European places in the 2020-2021 season”, said the statement.
The statement also reminded UEFA that it had called for solidarity within European football during the coronavirus crisis during and said Bayat had “advocated a flexible approach to this concept, which allows the specific circumstances of each league to be taken into account”.
–AFP
Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv will not accept any away fan tickets for their Europa League match at Aston Villa next month, even if local authorities reverse the decision to ban their supporters, they said on Monday.
The ban followed safety concerns raised by British Police, who cited potential protests outside Villa Park, following demonstrations at Israel’s recent World Cup qualifiers in Oslo and Udine.
“From hard lessons learned we have taken the decision to decline any allocation offered on behalf of away fans and our decision should be understood in that context,” Maccabi said in a statement.
“We hope that circumstances will change and look forward to being able to play in Birmingham in a sporting environment in the near future.”
Aston Villa announced the decision last week, saying they were following instructions from the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), who are responsible for issuing safety certificates for games at Villa Park.
West Midlands Police described the match as high risk, past incidents, including violent confrontations and hate crime offences involving Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters ahead of a November 2024 game in Amsterdam.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described the announcement as “shameful”.
Villa are third in the Europa League standings while Maccabi Tel Aviv are 30th after two rounds.
-Reuters
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Crystal Palace’s appeal against UEFA’s decision to drop them from the Europa League to the third-tier Conference League was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday.
UEFA demoted Palace while allowing Olympique Lyonnais to play in the Europa League as, at the time of assessment on March 1, the Eagle Football Group were majority owners of Lyon while their chairman, John Textor, owned a controlling stake in Palace.
Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League last season, will replace Palace in the Europa League.
“After considering the evidence, the panel found that John Textor, founder of Eagle Football Holdings, had shares in CPFC and OL and was a board member with decisive influence over both clubs at the time of UEFA’s assessment date,” the CAS said in a statement.
“The panel also dismissed the argument by CPFC that they received unfair treatment in comparison to Nottingham Forest and OL.”
Palace did not respond to a request for comment. Club chairman Steve Parish told reporters on Sunday that if Palace lost the appeal, they would “have to look if there’s any steps after that.”
The club, who qualified for the Europa League as FA Cup winners, appealed against UEFA’s decision last month.
The appeal came days before New York Jets co-owner Robert Wood “Woody” Johnson completed the purchase of Eagle Football Holdings’ stake in Palace.
Textor has also resigned from Lyon’s board of directors with Michele Kang appointed chairwoman and president.
As both Lyon and Palace had qualified for the Europa League, the French club were allowed to keep their place because they had finished higher in their respective league. Lyon finished sixth in Ligue 1 while Palace were 12th in the Premier League.
“Olympique Lyonnais welcomes today’s decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport confirming its participation in the Europa League,” Lyon said in a statement.
Palace, who won the Community Shield on Sunday , beating Liverpool in a penalty shootout, are set to play in the Conference League’s qualifying playoff round later this month.
-Reuters
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UEFA has decided to postpone its assessment of the multi-club ownership case involving Olympique Lyonnais and Crystal Palace until the French club’s relegation has been confirmed, European football’s governing body said on Monday.
The multi-club ownership regulations do not allow clubs under the same ownership compete in the same European competition, and American businessman John Textor holds a stake in both Palace and Lyon.
Palace qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup last season while Lyon reached the competition by finishing sixth in Ligue 1 but have since been relegated to Ligue 2 by French football’s financial watchdog (DNCG).
Lyon are appealing the decision, which came following an audit of the club’s finances, and UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body will now await the outcome of the appeal before making its decision.
UEFA and Lyon reached a settlement agreement over the club’s breach of the financial sustainability requirements, and as part of the settlement, Lyon agreed to their exclusion from European competition should the DNCG confirm their relegation.
League of Ireland club Drogheda United lost an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport earlier this month over their exclusion from the Conference League, after falling foul of the multi-club ownership rules.
-Reuters
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