Former SFA chief executive, Stewart Regan, has suggested that a way should be found to finish domestic leagues amid a debate over the Premiership title, as quoted by the Glasgow Times.
UEFA are holding a videoconference today involving all 55 members countries, with Ian Maxwell representing the SFA.
It comes after days of reports as well as pundit and fan opinion on the best way to navigate through this current unchartered territory.
Much of the talk in Scotland has been around what happens if the domestic season cannot be completed.
Some have argued that the current standings should be made final and others have demanded that the campaign be declared null and void.
Yet, Regan believes that it shouldn’t come down to the that. He’s stressed that with some in-depth planning and compromises from all bodies, it should be possible to complete all domestic leagues.
“It is a massive challenge facing the authorities in Scotland and Europe as a whole because we’re trying to squeeze a quart into a pint-pot,” he said, as quoted by the Glasgow Times. “No matter what you do, one decision is going to have a knock-on effect on someone else’s area of responsibility.”
“I thought to myself, ‘we’ve managed as a group of football stakeholders to move a World Cup from the summer to the winter in a couple of years’ time’, so there’s absolutely no reason why with a bit of concerted effort and a bit of collaboration, you can’t actually restructure a season to complete the existing one and squeeze the next one into a tighter timeframe.
“It’s not beyond the wit of man to do that with a bit of give and take…There are some big, big decisions that will require to be dealt with, and it might make sense if there’s a solution that works across all 55 countries.”
Verdict
It’s interesting to hear the views of Regan on this matter, given that if these circumstances had arisen a couple of years back, he would have been representing the SFA in today’s videoconference.
There has been plenty of debate in recent days over the Premiership title and whether it should or shouldn’t be awarded in the case of an incomplete season.
Ending the season prematurely has to be a last resort, though, and with no confirmation on exactly how long the footballing shutdown will last, efforts must be made to provide a scenario within which the Premiership campaign can be finished.
It’s the only way serious controversy will be avoided.
Furthermore, while there may be some practical challenges to it, the idea of a Europe-wide solution is a reasonable one.
If all 55 member countries just do their own thing, that would only stoke controversy further. For example, if worst came to worst and the English Premier League was voided but the Scottish Premiership table was taken as final, there would be rampant accusations of SFA bias.
Sensible, thought out and consistent decisions are required here.
