Stade Rennes believes that Thursday’s Conference League game against Tottenham Hotspur should be played, the French club said in a statement. Remarkably enough, Rennes states that the Spurs have unilaterally decided that the match has been cancelled. That decision has not been confirmed by UEFA either.
Tottenham is struggling with a major corona outbreak in the selection and reported on Wednesday evening that the home game against Rennes will not take place. That duel is also of great importance to Vitesse, which is involved in a battle for wintering with the English. Tottenham is under a ban by the London authorities, according to Rennes, but has not submitted any official documentation about it.
Rennes ended up in a video call with Tottenham on Wednesday evening, in which Fabio Paratici, the Londoners’ technical director, indicated that his club will not participate in the match. “A unilateral decision, which has in no way been confirmed by UEFA,” said Rennes. That is correct: the European Football Association has not issued a press release about the game. UEFA’s website also does not state that the match has been cancelled.
It worries Rennes that Tottenham does not want to indicate exactly how many players are infected with the corona virus. UEFA regulations state that matches must take place if a club has at least thirteen field players and a goalkeeper. “The lack of fair play is all the more striking, because Tottenham informed Rennes on Wednesday afternoon that the game would continue. The selection then traveled to London.” Rennes says he is seeking contact with UEFA.
A regulatory loss for the Spurs seems a serious possibility; Tottenham report that ‘talks with UEFA’ are underway and an ‘update’ will follow, but finding a new date is ostensibly impossible in the coming weeks. Tottenham’s games are scheduled for December 12, December 16, December 19, December 22, December 26, December 28 and January 1. Last season Qarabag missed too many players for the last group game against Villarreal in the Europa League, no new date could be found and Qarabag lost 3-0 by regulation. However, there was less at stake then than it is now.