UEFA has the authority to decide the fate of the suspended European Championship qualifying match between Belgium and Sweden.
Dejan Kulusevski followed Orel Mangala in Monday night’s match. PDO
The European Championship qualifying match between Belgium and Sweden was interrupted on Monday evening when the Swedish players learned in the first half that two of the team’s supporters had died in a shooting that took place in Brussels about 1.5 hours before kick-off.
The decision to withdraw from the field was initiated by the Swedes with the blessing of the Belgian team.
According to common sense, the final result of the match, which ended in a 1-1 situation, could be decided by the side of the cabinets, because neither team had any more input yesterday. Belgium had already cleared their way to next summer’s European Championship, while Sweden was definitely out of it.
However, UEFA rules say otherwise, news Expressen. According to the Swedish newspaper, a player who missed or was suspended should be allowed to play on the next game day.
This option is completely out of the question, as according to the Swedish Football Association, the players already traveled away from Belgium in the early hours of the morning to join the strength of their club teams.
Another option in Uefa’s rules is for the association to set a new match date and possibly a new venue for the match, if playing at the same Brussels King Baudouin Arena is not successful. In any case, in the end, the decision-making power in the matter rests with the umbrella association, i.e. UEFA.
“No sense”
The Swedes were leery of the idea of continuing the game.
– Sometimes it doesn’t matter if the match is played to the end. We probably shouldn’t be playing when things like this are happening in the world, head coach Jan Andersson thought.
Captain Victor Lindelöf highlighted the negligible athletic contribution.
– Belgium is already in the games, and we can’t get there. So I don’t see any point in playing the game to the end.
Belgium and Sweden will still face Azerbaijan in the qualifiers that end in November.