Celtic are a letter from UEFA away from being declared 2019/20 Premiership champions.
On Thursday UEFA’s Executive got together to announce that where the domestic leagues can’t be completed they will accept special cases for next season’s Champions League and Europa League places.
In their statement UEFA namechecked Scotland and Belgium while spelling out the conditions for declaring on incomplete seasons.
The SPFL has already awarded three league titles with Celtic on hold to join Dundee United, Raith Rovers and Cove Rangers on the podium.
With UEFA places at stake the SPFL can’t jump the gun with the final decision on the Premiership put on hold.
The Times reports:
The Ladbrokes Premiership season will remain alive into May, before Uefa decides whether to approve any move to call the campaign over and make Celtic champions and relegate Hearts.
A letter from Uefa to the Scottish Professional Football League is expected to arrive in the coming days, recognising that a compelling case had been made by the Hampden governing body to end the Scottish season. Uefa’s executive committee met yesterday and acknowledged that its wish to see all leagues played to a finish also came with an understanding that in some “special cases” that would be impossible.
The SPFL had earlier made submissions to Uefa highlighting the Scottish FA shutdown of all football, including group training, until June 10, the Scottish Government’s expectation that restrictions on mass gatherings and even closed doors games could continue for long after that, and the fears many clubs expressed about facing severe economic hardship without placement prize-money or gate income.
The board of the SPFL will meet again on Monday by video conference as they bring themselves upto date on the developments from UEFA.
With the Scottish Government banning training before June 10 and the 2020/21 season due to start on August 1 time is rapidly running out for completing eight rounds of fixtures.