UEFA warns clubs could face exclusion from Champions League if leagues are abandoned

UEFA have suggested that clubs might not be accepted into next season’s Champions League if the clubs do not qualify in the fashion they always do. It is basically an indirect way of UEFA telling the boards to get done with the 19/20 season. 

Football authorities in England and Europe were estimating that the football season could be concluded by the end of June but the constant damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic has created a major concern over whether or not football can resume as soon as initially expected.

A letter was sent to Europe’s national FA’s in which the UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin, along with officials Andrea Agnelli and Lars-Christer Olsson wrote as quoted by the Guardian, “We are confident that football can restart in the months to come with conditions that will be dictated by pubic 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 fulfillment of such condition. UEFA reserves the right to assess the entitlement of clubs to be admitted to the 2020-21 UEFA club competitions, in accordance with the relevant applicable competition regulations.”

The letter recognized the health risk posed by coronavirus but further explained that UEFA have a group working on a proposal that would see leagues completed in summer months after the Euro 2020 was postponed for a year. The letter came after the Belgian officials decided to cancel the rest of the Jupiter Pro League for the 2019/20 season and considered the current standings as final, becoming the first top-flight European league to take such measures.

Club Brugge have been crowned as Champions, while the second-placed Gent are also set to qualify for the Champions League. However, with UEFA committed to wanting league and European competitions finished in full, both of their places in the league for the next season could be in doubt.

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