Brugge and Anderlecht must wait

Club Brugge KV's home meeting with Belgian rivals RSC Anderlecht has been postponed indefinitely after the club failed to reach agreement with the city authorities over a suitable kick-off time.

No night match
The match was due to be played on Saturday and the failure to agree a new date and time is down to the authorities' reluctance for the match to be played at night for "security measures". Anderlecht fans caused more than €10,000 worth of damage to the Jan Breydelstadion during last season's fixture and no decision has yet been taken as to who is responsible for covering the cost.

Financial considerations
However, Brugge are refusing to play in the afternoon for "financial reasons". This has left the ball in the court of the Belgian Professional League who now will attempt to liaise between the two parties.

League intervention
"We want to make sure that we find a date that is suitable for everybody, including us because we do not want to bother the other teams and their games, and the possible European calendar of Brugge and Anderlecht", said Jean-Marie Philips, director of the Belgian Professional League. "The central point is that Brugge want to play at night because there are financial interests at stakes with business seats, catering and so on."

Possible precedent
Philips cited the dispute between R. Antwerp FC and KFC Germinal Beerschot Antwerpen over who should pay for repairs to the former's stadium following trouble there last season. "Standard fans caused damage to the stadium and Standard said it was not the responsibility of the club to pay for that," explained Philips.

'We can find a solution'
"Once the court gives its decision on that, we will be able to find a solution for the damage caused by the fans of Anderlecht in Bruges."