After Sweden, Belgium has also expressed its preference not to resume the second half of the European Championship qualifier that was halted on Monday. In this case, the Belgian Football Association (KBVB) is willing to set aside sporting interests.
The match in Brussels' King Baudouin Stadium was kicked off on Monday. However, when the Swedish players learned during halftime that two of their compatriots had been shot dead a few hours before the game, they decided, after brief consultation with their Belgian counterparts, not to return to the pitch. Now that the suspected perpetrator has also lost his life, tentative consideration can be given to a resolution for the match.
UEFA prefers that the game is completed as soon as possible in these situations, but the Swedish team has since returned home. They also have no more sporting stakes and immediately declared they had no desire to play the second half. The Belgian federation has now echoed this sentiment.
'We will not insist on a forfeit. We want to show respect for what has happened,' said KBVB director Manu Leroy to the Walloon newspaper Le Soir regarding the possibility of a regulatory victory for Belgium if Sweden refuses to play. 'I will get in touch with the Swedish and Austrian federations, as well as UEFA. We won't cling to our status as group leaders. At a certain point, morality and ethics must prevail,' Leroy stated. The Austrian federation is also involved in this matter since Austria is Belgium's only competitor for group victory.
To be a group leader in the draw for the Euro group stage, the already qualified Belgium must also be among the five best group winners in the qualifying round. In this sense, a draw against Sweden would not be favorable, but the Red Devils clearly have no intention of making a big issue of it in this extremely sad situation. According to Het Nieuwsblad, UEFA's regulations do not account for a situation where both teams no longer wish to play. To be continued.
