© BELGIUM
At a general meeting of the Pro League on Thursday in Diegem, no required two-thirds majority was found among the 28 professional clubs to tinker with the organization of the competition. Lorin Parys, CEO of the Pro League, does not think it is a missed opportunity that the competition format in Belgian football will remain unchanged after next season. “Many clubs would have preferred to see the halving of points disappear, but you vote on a complete format and then you have to agree on everything,” Parys underlines.
“Every club naturally wants to adjust one element somewhere in a format, and it is not nice if that does not happen. But everyone is convinced that the current format is a good format in terms of the tension we create with it,” he says afterwards. “My European colleagues look with envy at the exciting denouement that we have had here for two seasons in a row, where we had to use a helicopter because we did not know in which stadium the celebrations would take place. For the fans and certainly for the TV rights holder, this is the icing on the cake. People think that’s great and I can understand that.”
Parys emphasizes that he is not disappointed that the extensive preparatory work did not ultimately lead to a new format. “I’m not disappointed. It was a long process in which each club was given the opportunity to express its opinion in detail. Today it appears that the clubs prefer to stick with the current format and the three scenarios presented did not receive a two-thirds majority. As a membership organization you have to think and work very democratically and this is a decision that the clubs have made themselves.”
The strongly criticized halving of points after the regular competition also remains in force. “Many clubs would have preferred to see it disappear, but you vote on a complete format and then you have to agree on everything,” Parys underlines. “And there are certainly clubs that want to keep it because they find it very exciting.”
Union wilde of van halving
Philippe Bormans of vice-champion and cup winner Union Sint-Gillis was one of the voters present who wanted to do away with halving the points.
“It was important that there was clarity for the clubs about what our future is all about. That clarity is now there,” Bormans responded. “It was also important for us that the play-offs were retained. We would have liked to see reform on a number of points, but for that you need a two-thirds majority. That was not achieved. That may be a shame, but that is a democracy. We are going to work on this.”
“It is a disappointment and I think many clubs share that opinion. However, you need that two-thirds majority and a number of clubs simply do not care about the halving, teams that play play-off 2 or end up in 1B. It might have been logical to remove that halving now, but you are left with a total package and this is part of the game.”
Bormans supports the principle of voting with a two-thirds majority, but believes that there are simply too many professional clubs. “In itself, two-thirds are very healthy, it is not four-fifths as it used to be. But the fact that it is so difficult has everything to do with the fact that there are 28 professional clubs today. That is simply too much for Belgian football. The Pro League has to work on this. But let us not forget that we have a very strong product. Today may be a missed opportunity, but on the other hand there is clarity.”
And now negotiating a media contract
Now that it is clear which format the Belgian competition will continue with after next season, the Pro League can look for a suitable partner for the new media contract that will have to be negotiated soon. “You have to be certain about the product you are putting on the market. That product is the competition format for the TV rights holders,” says Parys. “Now there is clarity and we are ready to enter the market after the summer. We needed this.”
2024-06-20 13:40:33
#clubs #wanted #halving #points #competition #format #retained
