May 11 – For the sixth time in seven years, Mouscron have needed recourse to the Belgian Court of Arbitration of Sport (BAS) to obtain their professional license. Next season, the Walloon club will play in the Belgian first division.
Last month, Mouscron had its license application rejected by the Belgian FA (KBVB). The governing body raised questions over financial transparency, including the source of various revenue streams as well as the club’s solvency, but on Monday the BAS ruled that Mouscron, a club often linked to Israeli agent Pini Zahavi, were ruled eligible to play professional football and granted the license.
“The board, the players and the supporters can only be happy with this decision,” wrote Mouscron in a statement. ”From now on we are preparing as well as possible for next season.”
Even so, those preparations will be geared towards competing in 1B, the second tier of Belgian club football after the club failed to avoid relegation from the top flight. Majority stakeholder Gerard Lopez considered withdrawing from the club, but in the end recommitted to Mouscron.
“I know our main shareholder, Mr. Lopez,” said Mouscron chairman Patrick Declerck. “And what he promises, he does. I’ve never questioned that.”
“I was hopeful, but I am glad that the questionmark is now gone. I think it is deserved. This year, after our lawyer’s plea, I was even more optimistic about the outcome than other years.”
“According to the Licensing Commission, we had not sufficiently demonstrated continuity for this and next season, but we had adjusted that in our file for the BAS. We knew that some documents were missing, but we have now added them.”
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at moc.l1736445722labto1736445722ofdlr1736445722owedi1736445722sni@o1736445722fni1736445722