Match Threads Spurs Vs Stade Rennais : Postponed

[Spurslove]

Well, many Spurs fans will blame UEFA and I can understand why.
But it's not a simple matter to rearrange a game when one side, Rennes, has no motivation to do so
The rules are clear, the deadline was Dec 31, UEFA had every right to stand by that deadline, because fixture congestion and resceduling, especially in these Covid ridden times, is extremely difficult
For me, UEFA did nothing wrong. They even referred the case to a committee. No surprise the committee ruled against us. We unilaterally cancelled a game, so we forfeited the game. UEFA didn't even need to try to reschedule. But given the extraordinary circumstances they tried to be flexible. But Rennes knew they were through, so a Gallic shrug of the shoulders from them

As our friend said earlier, all of these issues could have been so easily negated if we hadn't gone and lost to NS Mura with the 'performance' from hell, something which on the face of it was almost impossible, so it's all on us. I'm still firmly of the view that UEFA have inadvertently done us a massive favour.

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[SandroClegane]

As our friend said earlier, all of these issues could have been so easily negated if we hadn't gone and lost to NS Mura with the 'performance' from hell, something which on the face of it was almost impossible, so it's all on us. I'm still firmly of the view that UEFA have inadvertently done us a massive favour.

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How could they have been negated? we still would've been level on points with Vitesse and then our forfeit would've clouded the waters even further.

 

[soflapaul]

I am not sure how others interpret it but one of Conte's interviews sounded as the government (which one?) called it off and Spurs did have enough players to field a team. That would suggest that Spurs were powerless and hence blameless in the decision. If true and if Rennes refused to play, then this whole situation is way messier than just Spurs being punished for Covid.

Positives? No. For sure this is an incredible decision. This decision is not fair. All the world knows we were facing a big problem like Covid. We didn’t play not through our fault but because we had many, many players with Covid and the Government decided to stop our training sessions and to stop our training centre. Honestly for me, the players, the club and our fans, it’s incredible the decision UEFA wanted to take. It’s unfair for sure. We deserve to play for qualification on the pitch, not in this way. I’m very disappointed for UEFA’s decisions. I don’t want to understand but I hope that in the future, in the next step, something can change because we deserve to play for qualification on the pitch, not in this way. It’s not our fault.

You said there is a "next step" following UEFA's decision, what is that "next step" and does that mean taking the decision to court?

Yeah, and there is another step. UEFA took this decision but there’s another step and we’re confident that there’s another step. They take normal decision, not a decision in our favour. I repeat: it was incredible what UEFA did. Also, in explanation about this defeat, I have read that Tottenham couldn’t play the game for Covid cases. I dispute this. But they took this decision.

 

[JCRD]

Well, many Spurs fans will blame UEFA and I can understand why.
But it's not a simple matter to rearrange a game when one side, Rennes, has no motivation to do so
The rules are clear, the deadline was Dec 31, UEFA had every right to stand by that deadline, because fixture congestion and resceduling, especially in these Covid ridden times, is extremely difficult
For me, UEFA did nothing wrong. They even referred the case to a committee. No surprise the committee ruled against us. We unilaterally cancelled a game, so we forfeited the game. UEFA didn't even need to try to reschedule. But given the extraordinary circumstances they tried to be flexible. But Rennes knew they were through, so a Gallic shrug of the shoulders from them

I take the points you made - it is a messy situation

Ill ask one question though - up until 31st December as the deadline - when would you or anyone have proposed to play the game given they had their winter break since yesterday.

As for their winter break - I think it would be unfair to eat into that as I can understand they would see that as a disadvantage to them (i suspect we would have done the same)

There simply was no window - needed Uefa to extend the deadline for two or three weeks for this to happen.

 

[Nice One Cyril]

OK but then Vitesse should have kicked up a storm with Rennes for not rescheduling the game. UEFA should also have a penalty in the rules against a team that doesn't want to reschedule, asides from just giving the other team the win. It definitely sets a precedent for teams in the future if they have already qualified from the group just to not bother with future games.

These rules as such, are not fit for purpose, because they do not cater for outbreaks of covid. Amendments should have been made to take account of the pandemic. Obviously no one bright enough in EUFA to act.

 

[ShelfWatcher]

As our friend said earlier, all of these issues could have been so easily negated if we hadn't gone and lost to NS Mura with the 'performance' from hell, something which on the face of it was almost impossible, so it's all on us. I'm still firmly of the view that UEFA have inadvertently done us a massive favour.

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Absolutely, I'm glad we're out. Next season we're hopefully in Europe again. This time, if it's the EL or ECL, I hope we respect the competition. Please no more contemptuous talk of farmers leagues and the like,. Thinking we just have to walk out on the pitch to win the game against opposition, grateful to be on the same pitch as the mighty Tottenham Hotspur .

 

[ShelfWatcher]

I take the points you made - it is a messy situation

Ill ask one question though - up until 31st December as the deadline - when would you or anyone have proposed to play the game given they had their winter break since yesterday.

As for their winter break - I think it would be unfair to eat into that as I can understand they would see that as a disadvantage to them (i suspect we would have done the same)

There simply was no window - needed Uefa to extend the deadline for two or three weeks for this to happen.

Fair points, realistically there was no window, given that neither the Prem or Rennes wanted to help us. And I don't blame either, just like I don't blame us or UEFA.
We knew the rules when we entered the competition. We knew when we unilaterally called off the game we were facing a 3 0 forfeit
We also felt, quite rightly, it was the morally right thing to do to call the game off.
It was a very unfortunate set of circumstances, where someone was going to feel hard done by
It's very reminiscent of the norovirus incident v West Ham
Those pesky viruses ?
The Prem didn't want to call our game off as it would have led to them being accusing of corrupting the competition integrity. We felt rightly we were unfairly bounced into playing.
In both scenarios there were no simple solutions, hence in both we didn't take legal action, because there was no obvious legally enforceable wrongdoing against us
Unfortunately, shit happens, literally in the west ham incident ?

 

[Blake Griffin]

why can't uefa just move their deadline?

the 19th or 20th of jan seems like a date that suits us and rennes and doesn't impact on uefa's scheduling.

 

[Spurslove]

How could they have been negated? we still would've been level on points with Vitesse and then our forfeit would've clouded the waters even further.

Fair do's but losing to them certainly didn't help. Anyway, I'm happy with the way things have turned out. This was a nonsense competition in the first place, and if we'd gone further it may well have hindered our assault on that treasured 4th place. Even a 6th place would give us a higher status European competition next season than this nonsense.