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Friday, June 26, 2020 at
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There will be no Eredivisie matches to be played on Sunday evening at 20:00, the KNVB announces via the official channels. The plan to finish duels at this time was met with critical criticism from supporters and was labeled a ‘contempt for fans’. Now it has been decided to delete this playtime for the time being, but it cannot be ruled out that football will eventually be played on Sunday evening.
The Eredivisie is currently scheduled to start again on the weekend of September 12 and 13, after two international matches on September 4 and 7, and ending on May 16. The Kitchen Champion Division starts two weeks earlier, on August 28, 29 and 30, and ends on May 14. On the Eredivisie website you can read that there will be mainly played on Saturday and Sunday. At the request of FOX Sports matches will be kicked off on Saturdays at 6:45 pm, 8 pm and 9 pm, while 4 pm is also an ‘option’.
The top players will be finished relatively late in the season, an idea that was originally introduced by Ajax director Edwin van der Sar. “Matches against top clubs will be spread throughout the season where possible. In addition, all clubs can indicate what they consider two nice opponents for home and away matches. These matches will then be – just like the derbies and the matches that were not played last season. – placed in the league schedule as much as possible later, in the hope that full stadiums will be played again by then. For sporting reasons, the KNVB wants each club to have affected at least fourteen or fifteen opponents before the end of the first half of the season ” , you can read.
Sunday 8 pm is not a time when games are scheduled. “This could change if a club that plays in the Europa League before Thursday asks for it, just like last season,” says the KNVB. The winter break in the Eredivisie runs from December 23 to January 8, although according to the league organization, any canceled games must also be made up during that period. The number of games in the play-offs (both for European football and for promotion / relegation) is halved, because there will be a few duels, and there will also be no match for the Johan Cruijff Scale at the start of the season.
“Corona has taught us that we live in a new reality and with new uncertainties,” explains Jan Bluyssen, manager of professional affairs football at the KNVB. “We also want to be able to play the competition in case of unexpected interruptions. For this we have built in extra moments when matches can be caught up. We have also created the option of diverting to other regions in the Netherlands if regional restrictions apply anywhere. Furthermore, the wishes of the clubs and the broadcasting agents were the main focus when drawing up the new match days calendar. ”
