There was never likely to be any real clarity when it came to league solutions coming out of yesterday’s UEFA meeting.
For anyone who has sat in on video conferencing calls it’s hard enough to have your voice heard when there is only 8 or 9 individuals dialled in. Yesterday’s meeting had 78 participants.
It’s safe to assume the individual requirements of member countries weren’t necessarily going to be heard. A small nation like Scotland? Probably enough time to confirm that we were still a host nation for The European Championships, now confirmed by UEFA as being moved to summer ’21, and that would be about it.
This was an information sharing exercise. The relevant decisions made to date were communicated and enough time for some clarification to be offered.
What we did get was the first steps to a conclusion and time to find a solution at a local level.
We now know from a UEFA perspective that all International football has been cleared from the calendar for the time being, leaving us with the following decisions and expectations at club level.
* European Leagues, which represents football leagues across the continent, says it is committed to completing European and domestic seasons by 30 June at the latest.
* A mini-tournament to decide the Champions League and Europa League is expected to be one option put forward to ease fixture congestion caused by the coronavirus crisis.
* The scheduling of domestic matches in midweek alongside Champions League games or playing European games at weekends is also expected to be approved.
* The qualifying rounds for the 2020-21 Champions League and Europa League tournaments may also be adjusted to take into account the delayed calendar.
It all remains a little woolly at present and that’s understandable. On an initial reading we had hope this seasons football may be able to be completed. Once you started to crunch the numbers however it soon became apparent that simply wasn’t going to be the case.
We know some countries have been given scope to complete their leagues by these guidelines. It may even be possible for traditionally late finishing leagues such as Spain and Italy to find a way to do just that, though even that will may be a stretch.
In Scotland however it simply won’t happen. Reading between the lines the SPFL and SFA are already looking to next season. They have been given a window of opportunity should the landscape alter dramatically to have the leagues concluded, if you were a betting man the odds on completing the season by 30 June would be significantly higher than those on offer for no further league football to take place.
As things stand experts advise that in the UK we are now still around six weeks away from the likely peak of coronavirus. We then have 8 weeks after that before we could even look at getting back to any sort of normality and restrictions lifted. When you add to that clubs themselves will need to get players back up to a level of fitness where they can compete in professional support to a suitable standard of fitness, an optimistic estimate would still be at least a further four weeks. Even with the benefit of a fair wind that takes us into August and possibly September. June the 30th is a pipe dream.
Should all that happen then we need to take pragmatic actions and make those hard decisions that lie ahead.
The Scottish Cup already looks like it will be moved to whenever is possible to play the three remaining games in front of supporters. In that case making it a showpiece start to football returning in August or September makes sense.
After that a new season should start as soon as those ties are completed. We can plan for that. UEFA has already indicated Qualifiers for Europa League and Champions league can be adjusted. That helps a great deal.
What we need to do now is conclude this season. With a 30th of June deadline that will not be completed on the field of play. It will be concluded by negotiation only.
The Celtic Star has already hinted this morning that Nick De Marco the top sports Q.C who successfully defended Scott Brown-rather successfully- following trumped up SFA charges after 2-1 win against ‘the’ Rangers last season, may be doing his homework. Possibly Celtic feel legal muscle will be required as we battle for a title we have already earned.
If that’s the case it’s a sad state of affairs, can clubs not find sensible solutions to extraordinary situations without the need for Queen’s Counsel involvement? If they can’t then they should be considering their own worth to their clubs and Scottish football.
Null and Void – 'Seeing as there is at least a slight chance I might be asked to be involved, I had better not express a public opinion on the matter,' Nick de Marco QC…https://t.co/qwnQntt9Dn @nickdemarco_ @CelticFC @spfl @ScottishFA
— The Celtic Star Editor (@CelticStarMag) March 18, 2020
There is a workable alternative and it has been put forward by The Celtic Star already. It is the fairest solution for all parties.
The league and European places are awarded as the league stands. There is no relegation and as such no-one is punished by dropping out any league. The top two teams from the league below are promoted and the top sides from the Highland and Lowland leagues are promoted to League 2 without any need for relegation.
Should we wish to revert back to the original numbers the following season then each league relegates a minimum of two teams the following year and we’re back to the status quo.
In an ironic twist of fate The Celtic Star had been inviting reconstruction ideas to be debated in the days leading up to this decision. There may not be time for a root and branch restructure that debate was alluding too, but there is time to adopt that simple solution for concluding this season and starting the next, put forward by The Celtic Star.
This solution will allow clarity, fairness and closure. It will afford everyone to draw a line under this season, dish out the trophies and the prize money and look forward to starting again in August or early September and the planning that will be required for it.
For these changes to be agreed, then eleven out of twelve top flight clubs must be in agreement and 75% of those from the lower leagues. So far only Hearts and ‘the’ Rangers have voiced concerns over ending the season on current standings. This option would mean Hearts concerns over relegation would be removed. That would leave only one dissenting voice in the top flight, and that could be outvoted with the agreement of the other clubs.
No-one wants to end a football season in such a manner. All of us would want this concluded on the field of play. That is simply not a practical solution especially now we have a 30th of June deadline for completion of league football.
What we can do now is back a suitable alternative that get us out of the current predicament and clears the decks for next season’s planning. The focus can then be on the finances and how together we can ensure every football club survives the extended shutdown and is in place for next seasons kick off. That should now become the focus in the weeks ahead. Squabbling over an end to this season simply makes that part more difficult.
Niall J
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Axed till August Fear, a Solution – 14 team, 39 games league, no split and Glasgow Cup Final…https://t.co/4IBI2hlv7B @hamiltonaccies @RossCounty @LiviFCOfficial
— The Celtic Star Editor (@CelticStarMag) March 14, 2020
