There is another twist in the never-ending saga from Belgian football. Remember how BAS had upended the status quo by voiding the decision to relegate Waasland-Beveren? The new general assembly will be held to decide upon this on the 31st of July, 2020. Also, it doesn’t seem the Pro League is too keen on reinstating Waasland back in the Pro League.
Here is what Peter Croonen (the managing director of KRC Genk) the CEO of the Pro League had to say, “We assume that the competition will start then. There is a chance that Waasland-Beveren will still go to court, but any decision would have provoked a legal dispute. That’s why we think it’s best to stick to our the 15th of May decision.”
There is now a new update. The Belgian Football Association and the Pro League have received a writ of summons from Waasland-Beveren. The club does not accept that it was not included in the calendar for next season. Waasland-Beveren have subpoenaed the Pro League and also the KBVB.
Waasland-Beveren have filed for summary proceedings against KBVB and the Pro League. The club is bringing the case to court on Monday.
It seems to me that this is rather a matter of principle in order to fully cover the fact that they follow all procedures. That’s why a letter of formal notice was sent to the KBVB and the Pro League last week. According to the bylaws, there had to be a final calendar by the 23rd of July, but Waasland-Beveren would have to be in 1A while they’re now classified in 1B in the calendar.
This is an error since Beveren were not officially relegated since the decision to relegate Beveren was annulled by the BAS, and according to that reasoning, Beveren is at the moment still a 1A team and should therefore also be classified in 1A in the calendar.
Also, last week’s notice of default also asked to comply with the decision of the Belgian Competition Authority. According to that ruling, the Pro League has to publish an amendment to the rules [both in “Sportleven” (an official “paper” in which they publish official rule changes etc) and on their website] regarding the “solidarity contributions” of which the Belgian Competition Authority deemed it to be illegal to not give them to teams that go to court. Apparently, this publication didn’t happen either. This subpoena is the logical consequence because the KBVB/Pro League ignored the notice of default. The case will come to court on Monday. A verdict may follow a few days later.
The start of the new season (which is on the 8th of August, 2020) is now in jeopardy. Monday is the hearing, a couple of days later a verdict should follow and on Friday, the new general meeting will take place. With a high chance of new procedures happening afterwards if they indeed just confirm/retake the decision of the 15th of May, there is good reason to believe the season will not begin on the 8th of August.
