Standard Liège threatens breakaway

Top flight football club Standard Liège will break away from the Belgian league and join France's Ligue 1 if a new Belgian-Dutch league is not created, club owner Roland Duchatelet warned. "Without the establishment of a 'Beneliga', Belgian football will die a beautiful death. If this project does not see the light of day, Standard will ask to join France's Ligue 1," Duchatelet told Sudpresse newspapers. "It's officially feasible, if the French agree to it," the businessman added. The Standard Liège owner's priority however is a brand new championship "comprising eight Belgian clubs and 12 Dutch sides" to compete with the major European leagues' television rights, he says. "To deny this Beneliga would be the wrong move,” Duchatelet added. “Anderlecht, Bruges, Ajax and PSV Eindhoven support it." The idea has been raised before by various clubs over the past few years but no formal discussions have taken place.

(AFP)