The powers that be of European football have urged those in charge of football in the various constituent countries to not abandon their seasons and to continue acting and working towards a solution as one.
This open letter comes just as Belgium’s Jupiler League seriously considers abandoning their season and awarding dominant Club Brugge the title without the usual top-six playoff phase. They will meet on April 15 to ratify (or not) such a decision, even as UEFA implore the various leagues to stay the course and see what happens ahead of a potential resumption of footballing activities in July and August (with the requisite extensions to the football calendar/season enabled by FIFA/etc).
“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.”
”As responsible leaders in our sport, this is what we must ensure, until the last possibility exists and whilst planning, operational and regulatory solutions are available. 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.”
In fairness, any decision made now will be premature, even a morally popular one like canceling or abandoning the season.
All those in a decision-making role would benefit from stepping back for a second and just letting things play out for a moment. We are just in early April, after all, and no one knows for certain what the global situation of the coronavirus pandemic will look like come June, July, or August.
UEFA are therefore urging their members to simply wait a minute before making any harsh or irreversible decisions, and to work together to act as one in whatever the eventual chosen solution may be.
“Closely following the development of the current situation, the calendar working group will indicate as soon as possible, and ideally by mid-May, which of the plans can be enacted for the completion of the season without leaving anyone behind. Stopping competitions should really be the last resort after acknowledging that no calendar alternative would allow to conclude the season.”
“The current health crisis caused by the spread of Covid-19 has no precedents in our society and, on top of the threat posed to public health, which is the uncontested number one priority, it has dramatically hit all industries and economic sectors.”
”We walk united in the awareness that only an extraordinary coordinated effort of all competition organisers can help European football out of the crisis, recovering in full its core asset, the competitions. With no unity and no solidarity, nobody will be able to get out of the crisis as we are all interdependent.”
-UEFA; source: Sky
As Jack said on LOST, live together, die alone.
So must football.