The Athletic have revealed that Tottenham could be ruled 3-0 losers in their cancelled fixture against Rennes, although it will come down to the specific circumstance of the cancellation.
Spurs were due to play Rennes in their final group stage fixture of the Europa Conference League on Thursday, with Antonio Conte’s men needing all three points to secure a place in the knockout stages of the competition.
However, the game was called off due to an outbreak of the virus at Spurs, with the first-team section of the club’s training ground subsequently being shut down.
Rennes were not too happy with the decision to not play the match, with the Ligue 1 club accusing Spurs of a ‘lack of fair play’.
UEFA revealed today that the match will not be rescheduled as they were unable to find a solution that suits both parties.
They stated that the case will now be decided by their Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body in accordance with Annex J.
The Athletic have now explained that the announcement could mean that Rennes could be considered 3-0 winners of the encounter.
According to the report, Annex J says: “The club that cannot play the match will be held responsible for the match not taking place and the match will be declared by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body to be forfeited by the club, which will be considered to have lost the match 3-0.”
However, The Athletic explain that UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body could make a different decision depending on the specific circumstances of the cancellation.
Spurs Web Opinion
It would be unjust towards Spurs to consider them to have forfeited the game, given the circumstances the club have been dealing with this week.
However, I would not be too disappointed if that is UEFA’s decision as we could do without the extra matches in the Europa Conference League.
Our fixture list is set to get really congested over the next few months and the Conference League is arguably the most disposable of the competitions we are in.