The Ghent coach cannot digest having to play in times of Covid. “No variant has contaminated as much as this one”, he points out by attacking the Pro League, the Calendar Commission and Eleven Sports, holder of the television rights. Vanhaezebrouck criticizes in particular the latter for imposing matches “at 2 p.m., only for the money”.
This made Jan Mosselmans, editor-in-chief of the channel, react. “It is really astonishing to hear such remarks coming from Hein Vanhaezebrouck, who is nevertheless an intelligent person, whereas he is obviously not aware of all the constraints linked to the calendar”, he explains.
“I would like to put things in context. First there was the postponement of Kortrijk-Antwerp at the end of December, which prompted the Pro League to consider a new protocol concerning the postponement of matches due to Covid. This protocol was put on the agenda of the General Assembly last Monday, during which it was also a question of collectively postponing the first two days of the championship which followed the winter break “ says Jan Mosselmans. “As is often the case in this context, the Pro League asked for Eleven’s advice. We recognized that it was difficult to envision a period of almost a month without a game, but we did also said that we were not against postponements if the health situation required it and if the clubs then wished to opt for a collective postponement so that all the matches of the 22nd and 23rd days are played on the same date, subsequently, with audience in the stadiums. ”
The General Assembly did not lead to a majority and the championship days were therefore maintained. To the chagrin of Vanhaezebrouck.
But what about the “slots” which concern the afternoon of the week? Here too, Eleven wants to set the record straight: “First of all, the idea does not come from us but from the calendar manager (Niels Van Brantegem, Editor’s note) for the simple reason … that he has no choice. Because when we play in This week, we face the European Cups. However, UEFA prohibits playing at the same time as the European matches which start at 6:45 p.m. The only slots available are therefore at 3:00 p.m. (and not 2 p.m. as mentioned by Hein Vanhaezebrouck) and 5 p.m. ”
Eleven had turned her back on the Monday night slot
“In general, criticizing us for scheduling matches solely on the basis of money is difficult to hear”, continues Jan Mosselmans. “As a reminder, during the call for tenders of the Pro League, it was a question of playing matches on Monday evening so that each match has its own slot. What we refused to set up after consultation with the clubs and the supporters. This is why there are often two simultaneous matches on Saturday at 6.30 p.m. ”
