Bad news for Waasland-Beveren. The club has been proven wrong by the Belgian Competition Authority (BMA) and sees an opportunity lost to play in 1A next year. The decision of the Pro League on May 15 to cancel the 30th matchday, which forced the East Flemings to drop, does not appear to violate competition rules, the college of the BMA believes.
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The BMA’s decision is somewhat surprising. Waasland-Beveren initially received a positive opinion from the auditor on the case that its largest shareholder, Foodinvest Holding NV, had filed against the Pro League. This concerned a complaint on the merits and a request for interim measures. In it, the shareholder asked to let Waasland-Beveren play in 1A and that no financial sanctions should be imposed. The prosecutor, a kind of prosecutor, advised that, at first sight, infringements of competition rules had been identified.
The BMA has only made a decision on the provisional measures for the time being. The substantive complaint is still being investigated, but this could take months. That complaint is in line with the complaints against the Pro League of Antwerp, Virton and ex-football chairman Roland Duchâtelet.
The relegation to 1B suddenly seems very close again for the East Flemish. Although they did bet on several horses. The club also contested the decision of the General Assembly of the Pro League on May 15 before the Belgian Arbitration Court for Sport (BAS). With Beerschot, OHL and Westerlo as intervening parties. The BAS has the power to annul the Pro League decision, but would not comment on the competition rules, but on the legality of the decision of 15 May.
Finally, Waasland-Beveren also goes to the court of first instance to challenge Mouscron’s license. Westerlo also did this before. However, Waasland-Beveren will not be able to bring this procedure into 1A in the short term.