Lost of drama has been going on in the Belgian League around potential match-fixing 2 seasons ago making it very unclear who will relegate and Promote. From what it looks like a final verdict has been cast Putting KV Mechelen back in 1st Division while Beerschot will drop out again. I took the time to line-up all the information surrounding the situation on this post...
The 6 teams involved in the situation are KV Mechelen, Waasland-Beveren, Beerschot, Lokeren, AA Gent & Antwerp. All have their reasons why they should be the team to play in the 1st league next season and it's all one big mess. While there is no ruling yet on the penalty KV Mechelen will get, it's sure that they will play in the 1st Division because they fielded an appeal as they were given too little time to make their case. It's basically a loophole in a poorly written regulations document from the league. The relegation needed to be settled the 15th June of the "concerned season". This wording was the loophole the lawyers found and it's unclear if the concerned season is the season the match-fixing took place or the season when it came to light.
KV Mechelen Still risks
- Starting with a 6 to 24 Points penalty
- Being Suspended from The Belgian Cup
- Being Suspended from Europa League (They were cup winners)
The Other Teams involved in the Ruling
Beerschot
They were granted a spot in the 1st Division on an earlier ruling but will not be put back into the 2nd division. They are now demanding to also be able to play in the 1st League and for the League start to be delayed. There is no real doubt about the actual match-fixing which makes it so hard on them because it's all because of some poor use of words in the regulations which pretty much allows match-fixing at the end of the season because it's unlikely to be proven before the expiry date. Many of the transfers they made also were done with an eye that they were going to be able to play in the 1st league.
Lokeren
Lokeren who relegated believed they should have taken the place of Beerschot in the 1st Division. They are filing a claim with the UEFA and are in disbelief that match-fixers are getting their way.
Waasland-Beveren
Since it was not 100% yet that they were sure of their spot in the 1st division they had a hard time preparing for the upcoming season with doing incoming transfers after seeing some of their better players leave. They are now talking about how they now will be able to heal their wounds.
AA Gent
They were given the European ticket as it previously belonged to Mechelen who won the cup. The match will be played in 14 days but it's still unclear who will play. They haven't given any comments on the situation yet.
Antwerp
They did not have to play the qualifier match 14 days from now but if KV Mechelen does get granted European Football they will have to do that. Very uncertain situation right now for them and they have no clue what will happen.
The next weeks will make more clear but I would not be surprised to see Mechelen start the league with penalty points and being suspended from the Europa League.
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