BAS rules them guilty, but no relegation

Justice is served, if it is the right kind of justice, is a question that I leave open. In my opinion, the punishment is far too little.

Let's look at the ruling by the court:

A. Four directors of the club KV Mechelen are found guilty of match fixing and attempts at influencing the outcome of the league
B. KV Mechelen can not play in the Europa League, despite their win of the Belgian Cup last year
C. KV Mechelen can not play in the next edition of the Belgian Cup
D. KV Mechelen does not relegate from the Jupiler Pro League 1A and does not get a point penalty

This last part is of course the most important one. You have indeed read this correctly, the directors have been found guilty of bribery and match fixing, but this has no effect on the club and the league they can play in. This is because the BAS ruled that the stipulation of the regulation was unclear. And it was not clear when the deadline was to file the case against KV Mechelen.

Thus, they are guilty, but an unclear legislation set them free. Very strange, and unacceptable for a country like Belgium. But still, it happened.

I hope, the Belgian Pro League changes the legislation soon enough, before all other clubs try to influence the competition without being able to get punished for it!

Sincerely,

Pele23