By Samindra Kunti
October 24 – Club Brugge president Bart Verhaeghe (pictured) has reignited talk around the formation of a ‘BeNe League’, saying that Belgium and the Netherlands are in discussion on how they join forces to found an 18-team league that could begin play as early as 2021.
Verhaeghe wants to challenge the overpowering commercial and performance dominance of Europe’s Big Five leagues, or at least reduce the gap between the Belgian league and the European elite. Earlier this week PSG painfully illustrated how big the divide has become in the Champions League when Brugge were trashed 0-5 in their biggest ever European Cup home defeat by the rampant Parisians and Kylian Mbappe.
Speaking to French newspaper Le Monde, Verhaeghe spoke of plans to merge the Belgian and Dutch top flights into a single more competitive and more powerful league within the European club landscape.
“We are setting up a competition together with the Netherlands to reduce the gap to the five top European countries,” said Verhaeghe. “Belgian football is waking up and has entered modernity. We could tap into a market of 28 million people.”
“A new meeting is scheduled this week. The championship would consist of 18 clubs, eight of which come from Belgium. It could all go very quickly. If it is not for next season, then without a doubt in the next two seasons.”
It is not the first time that the creation of a BeNe League has been mooted, but in the past a number of roadblocks and a lack of action has prevented any progress in forming the league. The Dutch Eredivisie has 18 teams. The Belgian Jupiler Pro League boasts 16 teams, but teams at the bottom of the table have always struggled and the viability of a large Belgian league is frequently debated within the country.
Verhaeghe insisted that this time talks are serious, but that TV deals and the potential creation of a European Super League could go a long way in deciding the future and the fate of a new league.
“The most important thing is that we are working on it, but we do not want to pin down on one or another deadline,’ said the Club Brugge boss. “The TV contract in Belgium will expire soon, but not yet in the Netherlands. These are things that we must take into account. We now also want to anticipate the reform of European football from 2024.”
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1713596159labto1713596159ofdlr1713596159owedi1713596159sni@o1713596159fni1713596159