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Which nations could go to war with UEFA as Europe stands divided over titles
European football’s governing body reacted angrily to Belgium breaking ranks to crown Club Brugge champions.
www.dailyrecord.co.uk
England
Premier League clubs are firmly against voiding the season and it’s easy to see why with the cost of that decision around £750 million in broadcast revenue alone. They want the campaign finished one top flight club reportedly put forward the extreme idea of finishing the campaign in CHINA. But if they want to avoid the 5000-mile trip to the Far East where coronavirus is said to have originated then a return to football behind closed doors could be more realistic.
France
Payment of Ligue 1 broadcasting rights has already been suspended by the world’s biggest sports rights holders beIN Sports - who were due to sign a £40 million cheque this weekend - and Canal+ who share the £762 million deal for the French top league. Premiere Ligue president Bernard Caiazzo warned that half of the clubs could go bust without that cash and is desperate for football to return but insists it won’t kick off again until at least June 15.
Germany
Bundesliga chiefs are determined to finish the current season with failure to complete the campaign likely to cost German clubs £750m. They are heavily reliant on broadcasting contracts with figures released for last season showing media revenue accounts for 36 per cent of total income. With play halted at least until April 30, German Football League chief Christian Seifert said: “At the very least, matches behind closed doors would be an option to soften the financial blow.”
Italy
Scrapping Serie A with 13 fixtures still remaining would see Italy’s top league losing up to £750 million with £460 million of that coming broadcasting rights. And that is why plans are taking shape to get the campaign going again in one of the worst affected Covid-19 countries with May 24 or 31 pencilled in for a restart date, with the league confirming on Friday night it was prepared to follow UEFA's order. Games would initially take place behind closed doors with lockdown measures set to be eased after April 13.
Spain
La Liga chiefs are looking at playing games behind closed doors, although no date has been set, in a bid to return with the cost of cancelling estimated at around £650 million in TV rights. President Javier Tebas warned of “serious problems” if the domestic season is not completed, saying: “We have 25 per cent of the season left to play and if the competitions are suspended everything would be revised and the incomes would be much lower.”
Austria
The Bundesliga is suspended until the beginning of May but top flight clubs are set for a videconference call on April 16 where that date is expected to be pushed back. And while the TV deal isn’t as big as other nations is is still the main factor in the determination of clubs to complete the campaign where LASK are three points clear of Red Bull Salzburg. Alois Tschida of Austrian press agency APA told Record Sport: “The TV deal is worth around £30 million per season and around a third of that has still to be paid. “Smaller clubs are more dependant on broadcaster money than the bigger clubs and will even play until August to finish it rather than suspend the season.”
Belgium
Broke ranks and declared Brugge champions with the leaders 15 points clear with just one regular-season game remaining before the play-offs to decide the top half of the table.
With that decision opening the door for other nations to follow suit, UEFA responded with an astonishing threat that anyone considering the same could be putting places in next season’s European club competitions at risk but the Belgian Pro League are unrepentant.
Denmark
“The Danish Superliga have been very clear that they will crown a champion after a full season has been played no matter when that happens,” said Klaus Egelund of newspaper Ekstra Bladet. “In Denmark the prize money is connected to a TV deal, worth approximately £40 million per season, and if all matches aren’t shown then the broadcaster won’t pay out the full amount so there will be a conflict with the rights holders. “So the decision is based on money because the Danish Superliga have already received 75 per cent of the revenue and divided that among the clubs and they would have to pay that back if the season was cut short.”
Holland
Top Dutch clubs hit out after the KNVB admitted they want to finish their season before August 3 which prompted Ajax technical director Marc Overmars to compare them to Donald Trump. The Amsterdam side, along with PSV and AZ Alkmaar, want to end the campaign while giants Feyenoord have held fire on a decision until clubs meet next week. But Overmars said: “The big countries have put pressure on UEFA to continue playing football at all costs. I am currently comparing UEFA and the KNVB with US President Donald Trump a week ago: the economy is more important than the corona virus.”
Portugal
Provisional plans are in place for Liga NOS to start again with clubs scheduled to have a mini pre-season in May ahead of a return to competitive action at the end of next month. Porto are a point ahead of Benfica with 10 games remaining and games would be played every weekend with two full midweek cards before a July 18/19 league climax and the top two meeting in the Portuguese Cup final the following weekend. Portugal hasn’t suffered as much as other European countries with the official death toll from coronavirus standing at 209.
Norway/Sweden
The Swedish Allsvenskan and Norwegian Eliteserien weren’t due to kick off until this weekend and have simply put their big kick offs on hold due to Covid-19. That means they aren’t facing the same dilemma as the rest of Europe but the problems will come the Scandinavian duo at the other end when the league was due to finish in October.
Martin Fransson journalist for Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, told Record Sport: “The plan just now is to start the league in June but it’s more realistic we will start in July and just have a very short break before we start again next April.”