UTRECHT, Netherlands (AP) — A judge on Thursday upheld the Dutch soccer association’s decision to scrap relegation and promotion for the top-flight Eredivisie after it cut short the season due to the coronavirus crisis.
The top two clubs in the second-tier division, Cambuur Leeuwarden and De Graafschap Doetinchem, launched a legal challenge to the April 24 decision, seeking to seal promotion in court.
Judge Hans Zuurmond rejected their arguments, saying the Dutch association, the KNVB, has the power to take such a decision following a season cut short by exceptional circumstances.
Zuurmond said that because of the coronavirus the KNVB “had to take a decision with its back to the wall.