Paris (AFP)
The Belgian Football League recommended Thursday to definitively end the current Championship in the face of the coronavirus pandemic and "to accept the current classification (...) as a final classification", a new decision in Europe which must be formally validated April 15.
If the decision of the League's administrative council were to be accepted in a general assembly, Belgium would become the first elite championship in European football to take this drastic measure in the face of the health crisis.
FC Bruges occupied the head of the Pro League ahead of La Gantoise and Charleroi before the suspension of the Championship. The first place in the classification qualifies its holder for the group phase of the Champions League, the second gives access to the third preliminary round of the C1.
Meeting on audio conference Thursday, the board of directors of the Pro League "unanimously decided that it was not desirable, whatever the scenario envisaged, to continue the competition after June 30" and formulated the wish "not to resume competitions in the 2019-2020 season," said a statement.
Concretely, this is the play-off phase, disputed in the form of a closing mini-championship, which would not take place.
The League claims to have made its decision after having "taken note" of the recommendations made by the authorities, "according to which it is very unlikely that matches with the public can take place before June 30".
The pandemic of the new coronavirus has caused the death of more than 1,000 people in Belgium, according to an official report released Thursday by the health authorities.
© 2020 AFP