Update: Manchester United suffer COVID-19 outbreak- clash with Brentford on Tuesday now in doubt.
Tottenham’s painful Conference League campaign has had the curtains brought down on it by COVID-19. The outbreak that has ravaged the Spurs squad has seen the cancellation of not only their Conference League clash with Stade Rennais but also their Premier League clash with Brighton and Hove Albion.
UEFA announced that the tie which was crucial to Spurs qualification for the next phase of the competition had been canceled after the two sides could not find a suitable date to play the postponed tie before the December 31 deadline.
The French side was initially unhappy with Spurs decision to postpone the fixture. Rennes officials claimed they had not been consulted prior to the decision being made public and have stated they believed Spurs had made a ‘unilateral decision.’
The official UEFA statement read:
“Unfortunately, despite all efforts, a solution that could work for both clubs could not be found. As a result, the match can no longer be played and the matter will, therefore, be referred to the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body for a decision to be taken in accordance with Annex J of the above-mentioned competition regulations.”
According to UEFA rules, the match will be registered as a 3-0 defeat to the North London side.
That will only occur if the UEFA Control, Ethics, and Disciplinary Body can confirm that Tottenham didn’t have 13 outfield players and a goalkeeper available to them for the matchup. They will also investigate whether both sides attempted to re-schedule the fixture in good faith.
This particular UEFA committee has been ruthless with these rulings in the recent past, showing no softening of the rules for COVID-19 related circumstances. There have been no less than two of these cases brought forward since the pandemic outbreak.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld one of these rulings in 2020 after Ukraine appealed the decision made by a UEFA panel that awarded Switzerland a 3-0 victory after a COVID outbreak left Ukraine unable to take part in a UEFA Nations League fixture.
Whatever the result of the UEFA investigation, I am sure there are some parts of the Spurs fanbase (perhaps even some inside the club) that will be happy to put this season’s Conference League nightmare well and truly behind them.