2020–21 Waasland-Beveren season

Waasland-Beveren
2020–21 season
Chairman	Dirk Huyck
Manager	Arnauld Mercier
Stadium	Freethiel Stadion
Belgian First Division A	17th (relegated)
Belgian Cup	Sixth round
Top goalscorer	League: ; Daan Heymans (5); All: ; Daan Heymans (5)
	← 2019–20 2021–22 →
	All statistics correct as of 8 May 2021.

The 2020–21 Waasland-Beveren season was the club's 85th season in existence and its ninth season in the top flight of Belgian football. In addition to the domestic league, Waasland-Beveren participated in this season's edition of the Belgian Cup. The season covered the period from 3 August 2020 to 30 June 2021.

Players[edit]

First-team squad[edit]

As of 28 February 2021^[1]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	BEL	Nordin Jackers
2	DF	BEL	Vladimir Van De Wiel
3	DF	BEL	Brendan Schoonbaert
4	MF	CMR	Georges Mandjeck
6	MF	SUI	Leonardo Bertone
7	DF	GER	Andreas Wiegel
8	MF	RWA	Djihad Bizimana
9	FW	FRA	Jordan Faucher
10	FW	LUX	Danel Sinani (on loan from Norwich City)
11	FW	USA	Joseph Efford
12	FW	BEL	Alessandro Albanese
14	MF	BEL	Denzel Jubitana
15	DF	BEL	Dries Wuytens
16	MF	NOR	Sivert Heltne Nilsen
17	FW	BEL	Aboubakary Koita
18	MF	BEL	Daan Heymans


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
20	MF	BEL	Nikola Pejcic
21	GK	BEL	Lucas Pirard
23	DF	CMR	Serge Leuko
24	DF	MAR	Amine Khammas
26	DF	SRB	Aleksandar Vukotić
27	DF	BEL	Jenthe Mertens
37	DF	POR	Miguel Vieira (on loan from İstanbul Başakşehir)
44	GK	BEL	Brent Gabriël
52	DF	BEL	Jur Schryvers
77	MF	BEL	Tom Reyners
88	MF	BEL	Milan De Mey
98	FW	ALB	Din Sula
99	FW	SUI	Michael Frey (on loan from Fenerbahçe)
—	FW	CUW	Jeremy Cijntje (on loan from Heracles Almelo)

Out on loan[edit]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	DF	CRC	Alexis Gamboa (at Alajuelense)
—	MF	BEL	Matthias Verreth (at Kolding IF)
—	FW	MNE	Stefan Milošević (at Riga)

Transfers[edit]

In[edit]

No.	Pos	Player	Transferred from	Fee	Date	Source
15			TBD		1 July 2020

Out[edit]

No.	Pos	Player	Transferred to	Fee	Date	Source
15			TBD		1 July 2020

Pre-season and friendlies[edit]

Win Draw Loss

11 July 2020 Friendly	Zulte Waregem	5–0	Waasland-Beveren	Belgium
16:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Bruno 28' (pen.) Berahino 45' Vossen 61' (pen.) Sissako 78' I. Sylla 80'

17 July 2020 Friendly	Paris Saint-Germain	7–0	Waasland-Beveren	Paris, France
19:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Vukotić 21' (o.g.) Neymar 28' (pen.) Di María 43' Icardi 47' Mbappé 60' Choupo-Moting 65', 67' Mbe Soh 93'		Caufriez 27' Vukotić 47'	Stadium: Parc des Princes Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Stéphanie Frappart (France)

30 July 2020 Friendly	Sint-Truiden	4–1	Waasland-Beveren	Sint-Truiden, Belgium
15:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Ito 5', 47' Nazon 30' Lee 70'	Report	Milošević 51' (pen.)	Stadium: Stayen

4 August 2020 Friendly	Waasland-Beveren	0–2	Knokke	Beveren, Belgium
19:00 CEST (UTC+2)		Report	Savaete 30' De Kuyffer 85'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0

Competitions[edit]

Overview[edit]

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Belgian First Division A	9 August 2020	18 April 2021	Matchday 1	17th	34	8	7	19	44	70	−26	023.53
Belgian First Division A relegation play-off	1 May 2021	8 May 2021	First leg	Runners-up	2	0	1	1	3	6	−3	000.00
Belgian Cup	3 February 2021		Sixth round	Sixth round	1	0	0	1	2	3	−1	000.00
Total					37	8	8	21	49	79	−30	021.62

Source: Soccerway

Belgian First Division A[edit]

League table[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
14	Kortrijk	34	11	6	17	44	57	−13	39
15	Sint-Truiden	34	10	8	16	41	52	−11	38
16	Cercle Brugge	34	11	3	20	40	51	−11	36
17	Waasland-Beveren (R)	34	8	7	19	44	70	−26	31	Qualification for the Relegation play-off
18	Excel Mouscron^[a] (R)	34	7	10	17	32	54	−22	31	Relegation to First Division B

Source: Jupiler Pro League (in Dutch), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Matches won; 3) Goal difference; 4) Goals scored; 5) Away matches won; 6) Away goal difference; 7) Away goals scored; 8) Play-off.^[5]
(R) Relegated
Notes:

^ On 14 April 2021 news was released that both Excel Mouscron and Oostende had not received a Belgian professional football license for the coming season, a requirement to play at the top two levels of Belgian football. For Oostende, a lack of financial transparency, together with generally poor quality and incompleteness of the submitted report, was given as the main reason by the committee for not awarding a license, while Excel Mouscron was refused a license as besides insufficient transparency, the committee also questioned several cash flows and whether the club was creditworthy in general, also due to the fact that the wages for the months of February and March had not yet been paid at that point. For Excel Mouscron, it was already the sixth year running the license was (initially) refused, however, the club has appealed the decision with the Belgian Court for Sports Arbitrage (BAS) successfully on each occasion and intended to do so again. Oostende was planning to launch an appeal as well, with the BAS to rule on the matter for both clubs before the 10th of May. Both clubs were allowed to add new documents to their case, but in case they however still did not receive a license after appeal, knew they would have been forced to relegate to the 2021–22 Belgian Division 2 and start the season with a 3-point penalty.^[2] Both Exel Mouscron and Oostende were however eventually awarded a license after appeal, meaning Oostende remained at the top level, while Excel Mouscron only dropped one level.^[3]^[4]

Results summary[edit]


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
34	8	7	19	44	70	−26	31	3	2	12	21	40	−19	5	5	7	23	30	−7

Source: Jupiler Pro League

Results by round[edit]

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	A
Result	W	L	L	L	L	L	L	D	W	W	L	D	L	D	W	W	L	L	D	L	L	D	D	L	L	L	W	D	L	L	L	W	L	W
Position	1	8	13	15	17	17	18	17	17	17	17	17	17	16	15	14	15	15	15	16	17	17	18	18	18	18	17	18	18	18	18	18	18	17

Source: Jupiler Pro League
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches[edit]

The league fixtures were announced on 8 July 2020.^[6]

9 August 2020 1	Kortrijk	1–3	Waasland-Beveren	Kortrijk
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Lepoint 45+3' Mboyo 54' (pen.) Selemani 90+5'	Report	Heymans 10', 90+1', 81' Vukotić 45+1' Albanese 51' Caufriez 52' Koita 68'	Stadium: Guldensporen Stadion Referee: Kevin van Damme

17 August 2020 2	Waasland-Beveren	1–2	Standard Liège	Beveren
19:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Bizimana 27' Schryvers 60' Mertens 65' Caufriez 90+4'	Report	Shamir 16' Raskin 20' Laifis 40' Amallah 67' Bastien 70'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Frederik Geldhof

22 August 2020 3	Zulte Waregem	4–1	Waasland-Beveren	Waregem
16:15 CEST (UTC+2)	Vossen 28' Govea 41', 63' Bruno 49' (pen.), 90+5' Seck 84' De Bock 90'	Report	Heymans 76' Wuytens 86'	Stadium: Regenboogstadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Lothar D'hondt

29 August 2020 4	Waasland-Beveren	1–3	OH Leuven	Beveren
18:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Vukotić 45' Efford 51' Caufriez 90+6'	Report	Malinov 23' Mercier 30', 58' Henry 90'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Wesli De Cremer

12 September 2020 5	Club Brugge	4–1	Waasland-Beveren	Bruges
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Vanaken 16' (pen.), 39' Okereke 50' Dennis 52' Krmenčík 84'	Report	Heymans 30' Sula 34' Schoonbaert 40'	Stadium: Jan Breydel Stadium Attendance: 9,200 Referee: Erik Lambrechts

19 September 2020 6	Waasland-Beveren	2–4	Anderlecht	Beveren
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Khammas 45' Bertone 57' Jackers 59' Sula 64' Wuytens 71' Heymans 88'	Report	Trebel 3' Nmecha 15', 60' (pen.) Doku 18' Verschaeren 55'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 1,800 Referee: Lawrence Visser

26 September 2020 7	Beerschot	3–2	Waasland-Beveren	Antwerp
16:15 CEST (UTC+2)	Tissoudali 42' Noubissi 64' Suzuki 79' Brogno 90+6'	Report	Efford 11' Heymans 14' Bertone 82' Schryvers 90+7'	Stadium: Olympisch Stadion Attendance: 3,200 Referee: Wesli De Cremer

3 October 2020 8	Waasland-Beveren	1–1	Genk	Beveren
16:15 CEST (UTC+2)	Vukotić 32', 90+6' Wiegel 59' Albanese 73'	Report	Vandevoordt 17' Hrošovský 39' Onuachu 67' Ito 70'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 1,750 Referee: Wim Smet

1 November 2020 11	Waasland-Beveren	1–4	Gent	Beveren
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Vukčević 21' Wiegel 27' Vukotić 28' Sinani 51' Gamboa 53'	Report	Dorsch 28' Yaremchuk 29', 37', 44'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Erik Lambrechts

7 November 2020 12	Eupen	1–1	Waasland-Beveren	Eupen
18:30 CET (UTC+1)	Peeters 74' Koch 84'	Report	Frey 11' Vukčević 88' Vukotić 90+2'	Stadium: Kehrwegstadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Lothar D'hondt

21 November 2020 13	Waasland-Beveren	0–2	Cercle Brugge	Beveren
18:30 CET (UTC+1)	Mandjeck 45' Vukotić 84' 84' Koita 85'	Report	Vitinho 4' Ugbo 43', 82' Biancone 52' Somers 65'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Bram van Driessche

24 November 2020 9	Waasland-Beveren	2–0	Oostende	Beveren
17:00 CET (UTC+1)	Albanese 46', 70' Sinani 61' Frey 78'	Report	Sakala 22' Theate 79'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Wim Smet

28 November 2020 14	Sint-Truiden	1–1	Waasland-Beveren	Sint-Truiden
16:15 CET (UTC+1)	García 7' De Ridder 45' Colidio 72' Sankhon 88'	Report	Wuytens 29' Koita 90+2'	Stadium: Stayen Attendance: 0 Referee: Wesley Alen

2 December 2020 10	Charleroi	0–2	Waasland-Beveren	Charleroi
17:00 CET (UTC+1)	Ilaimaharitra 45+1' Nkuba 87'	Report	Heymans 14' Wiegel 30' Koita 35', 90+1' Bertone 84'	Stadium: Stade du Pays de Charleroi Attendance: 0 Referee: Lothar D'hondt

5 December 2020 15	Waasland-Beveren	2–0	Excel Mouscron	Beveren
16:15 CET (UTC+1)	Koita 57' Frey 89', 90+2'	Report	Onana 35' Da Costa 67'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Lawrence Visser

13 December 2020 16	KV Mechelen	2–3	Waasland-Beveren	Mechelen
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Hairemans 27' Voet 36' Mrabti 60'	Report	Heymans 47' Koita 49' Bertone 67'	Stadium: Achter de Kazerne Attendance: 0 Referee: Alexandre Boucaut

16 December 2020 17	Gent	3–0	Waasland-Beveren	Ghent
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Castro-Montes 25' Yaremchuk 53' Hanche-Olsen 61' Bukari 90+1'	Report	Wiegel 37' Frey 66'	Stadium: Ghelamco Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Bert Put

20 December 2020 18	Waasland-Beveren	0–3	Antwerp	Beveren
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Wiegel 57'	Report	Haroun 24' Refaelov 25' Ampomah 29' Lukaku 35' Mbokani 44' Buta 67' Seck 76'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Jonathan Lardot

27 December 2020 19	Genk	1–1	Waasland-Beveren	Genk
16:00 CET (UTC+1)	Onuachu 24'	Report	Koita 45+2' Wuytens 49' Frey 80' Heymans 85'	Stadium: Luminus Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Kevin Van Damme

11 January 2021 20	Standard Liège	3–1	Waasland-Beveren	Liège
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Bastien 25' Amallah 31', 66' Muleka 33' Siquet 68' Bokadi 74'	Report	Vukotić 57' Wuytens 84'	Stadium: Stade Maurice Dufrasne Attendance: 0 Referee: Christof Dierick

16 January 2021 21	Waasland-Beveren	1–5	Zulte Waregem	Beveren
18:30 CET (UTC+1)				Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0

19 January 2021 22	Excel Mouscron	1–1	Waasland-Beveren	Mouscron
18:45 CET (UTC+1)				Stadium: Stade Le Canonnier Attendance: 0

22 January 2021 23	Anderlecht	0–0	Waasland-Beveren	Anderlecht
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Mukairu 74'	Report		Stadium: Constant Vanden Stock Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Nathan Verboomen

26 January 2021 24	Waasland-Beveren	2–3	KV Mechelen	Beveren
18:45 CET (UTC+1)	Mandjeck 29' Faucher 60', 70' Sinani 77'	Report	Walsh 8' Shved 26', 90+2' De Camargo 63'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Jasper Vergoote

29 January 2021 25	Antwerp	3–2	Waasland-Beveren	Antwerp
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Lamkel Zé 18', 57' Lukaku 45' Verstraete 68' Batubinsika 87'	Report	Frey 44' (pen.), 71' Albanese 85'	Stadium: Bosuilstadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Wesley Alen

6 February 2021 26	Waasland-Beveren	0–2	Club Brugge	Beveren
18:30 CET (UTC+1)	Vieira 65' Vukotić 84'	Report	Lang 12', 90+4'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Alexandre Boucaut

17 February 2021 27	Waasland-Beveren	1–0	Eupen	Beveren
17:00 CET (UTC+1)	Frey 11' Leuko 29' Albanese 74' Heltne Nilsen 85'	Report	Peeters 30' Prevljak 57' N'Dri 90+2'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Erik Lambrechts

20 February 2021 28	Waasland-Beveren	1–1	Charleroi	Beveren
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Koita 48' Bertone 78' Vukotić 87'	Report	Bruno 90+1'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Kevin Van Damme

27 February 2021 29	Cercle Brugge	2–0	Waasland-Beveren	Bruges
16:15 CET (UTC+1)	Lopes 29', 45' Deman 63' Denkey 82'	Report	Heltne Nilsen 24' Bastians 55' Wuytens 80' Schryvers 86' Leuko 90+5'	Stadium: Jan Breydel Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Nicolas Laforge

6 March 2021 30	Waasland-Beveren	1–2	Beerschot	Beveren
18:30 CET (UTC+1)	Heymans 8', 13' Vukotić 90+2'	Report	Dom 34' Holzhauser 73' Brogno 80' Radić 90+2'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Erik Lambrechts

3 April 2021 32	Oostende	0–2	Waasland-Beveren	Ostend
16:15 CEST (UTC+2)	Jäkel 45+3' 76' Gueye 89'	Report	Sinani 23' Vukotić 28' Frey 41' Bertone 74'	Stadium: Diaz Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Wesli De Cremer

6 April 2021 31	Waasland-Beveren	2–4	Sint-Truiden	Beveren
19:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Frey 2' Sinani 14' Vukotić 27' Verstraete 60', 78' Wuytens 70' 73' Faucher 86'	Report	Mboyo 20', 51', 75' Suzuki 32', 84'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Nathan Verboomen

11 April 2021 33	Waasland-Beveren	3–4	Kortrijk	Beveren
16:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Frey 17', 44', 90+3' (pen.) Schoonbaert 58'	Report	Gano 3' Dewaele 40' De Sart 48' Selemani 58' (pen.), 90+6'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Erik Lambrechts

18 April 2021 34	OH Leuven	1–2	Waasland-Beveren	Leuven
18:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Malinov 7' Henry 42' Schrijvers 47' Aguemon 90+6'	Report	Sinani 25' Verstraete 30', 67', 55' Koita 70' Schryvers 88'	Stadium: Den Dreef Attendance: 0 Referee: Kevin Van Damme

Relegation play-off[edit]

1 May 2021 First leg	Seraing	1–1	Waasland-Beveren	Seraing
18:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Kilota 23' Mikautadze 86', 90+2' (pen.) Sanogo 86'	Report	Schryvers 28' Khammas 49' Frey 70' (pen.) Mertens 85'	Stadium: Stade du Pairay Attendance: 0 Referee: Lawrence Visser

8 May 2021 Second leg	Waasland-Beveren	2–5 (3–6 agg.)	Seraing	Beveren
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Frey 15' (pen.), 52' Wuytens 47' Sinani 51' Verstraete 55' Mertens 76'	Report	Mikautadze 22' (pen.), 70', 71' Sabaouni 45+4' Faye 62' Bernier 64', 90+5' Dietsch 87'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Alexandre Boucaut

Belgian Cup[edit]

3 February 2021 Sixth round	Waasland-Beveren	2–3	Oostende	Beveren
20:00 CET (UTC+1)	Frey 24' Faucher 54'	Report	McGeehan 30' Gueye 40', 72', 69' Hjulsager 76', 88'	Stadium: Freethiel Stadion Attendance: 0

Statistics[edit]

Squad appearances and goals[edit]

Last updated on 9 August 2020.

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Belgian Division		Belgian Cup
No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
21	GK	BEL	Lucas Pirard	1	0	1	0	0	0
44	GK	BEL	Brent Gabriël	0	0	0	0	0	0
Defenders
3	DF	BEL	Vladimir Van De Wiel	1	0	1	0	0	0
3	DF	BEL	Brendan Schoonbaert	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	DF	GER	Andreas Wiegel	0	0	0	0	0	0
15	DF	BEL	Dries Wuytens	0	0	0	0	0	0
19	DF	CRC	Alexis Gamboa	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	DF	MNE	Andrija Vukčević	1	0	1	0	0	0
23	DF	BEL	Maximiliano Caufriez	1	0	1	0	0	0
26	DF	SRB	Aleksandar Vukotić	1	0	1	0	0	0
27	DF	BEL	Jenthe Mertens	1	0	1	0	0	0
28	DF	BEL	Daam Foulon	0	0	0	0	0	0
52	DF	BEL	Jur Schryvers	1	0	1	0	0	0
Midfielders
8	MF	RWA	Djihad Bizimana	1	0	1	0	0	0
10	MF	JPN	Yuki Kobayashi	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	MF	BEL	Denzel Jubitana	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	MF	BEL	Daan Heymans	1	2	1	2	0	0
20	MF	BEL	Nikola Pejcic	0	0	0	0	0	0
29	MF	BEL	Matthias Verreth	0	0	0	0	0	0
77	MF	BEL	Tom Reyners	0	0	0	0	0	0
88	MF	BEL	Milan De Mey	0	0	0	0	0	0
Forwards
9	FW	FRA	Jordan Faucher	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	FW	USA	Joseph Efford	1	0	1	0	0	0
12	FW	BEL	Alessandro Albanese	1	0	1	0	0	0
17	FW	BEL	Aboubakary Koita	1	1	0+1	1	0	0
98	FW	ALB	Din Sula	0	0	0	0	0	0
99	FW	MNE	Stefan Milošević	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players who have made an appearance this season but have left the club

Goalscorers[edit]

As of 17 August 2020

Rank	No.	Pos	Name	Pro League	Total
1	19	MF	Daan Heymans	2	2
2	52	DF	Jur Schryvers	1	1
2	17	FW	Aboubakary Koita	1	1
Totals				4	4

References[edit]

^ "A-kern". Waasland-Beveren. Retrieved 1 October 2020.
^ "KV Oostende en Moeskroen krijgen (weer) geen licentie in eerste zit" [KV Oostende and (again) Mouscron don't receive a license at their first attempt] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
^ "KV Oostende krijgt licentie van BAS, afwachten voor Moeskroen" [KV Oostende awarded license by BAS, Mouscron still waiting] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
^ "Degradant Moeskroen bemachtigt via BAS opnieuw een licentie" [Relegated Mouscron again obtains license after appeal at BAS] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
^ "Bondsreglement Titel 7: Competities" [Association Rules Title 7: Competitions] (PDF). Royal Belgian Football Association. p. 19. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
^ "Club Brugge - Charleroi is de opener van het seizoen en meteen maandagvoetbal: ontdek hier de kalender van het seizoen 2020/21". Voetbalkrant.com (in Dutch). 8 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.

External links[edit]

Official website

[table_note_OOS0.090564905707987-5] On 14 April 2021 news was released that both Excel Mouscron and Oostende had not received a Belgian professional football license for the coming season, a requirement to play at the top two levels of Belgian football. For Oostende, a lack of financial transparency, together with generally poor quality and incompleteness of the submitted report, was given as the main reason by the committee for not awarding a license, while Excel Mouscron was refused a license as besides insufficient transparency, the committee also questioned several cash flows and whether the club was creditworthy in general, also due to the fact that the wages for the months of February and March had not yet been paid at that point. For Excel Mouscron, it was already the sixth year running the license was (initially) refused, however, the club has appealed the decision with the Belgian Court for Sports Arbitrage (BAS) successfully on each occasion and intended to do so again. Oostende was planning to launch an appeal as well, with the BAS to rule on the matter for both clubs before the 10th of May. Both clubs were allowed to add new documents to their case, but in case they however still did not receive a license after appeal, knew they would have been forced to relegate to the 2021–22 Belgian Division 2 and start the season with a 3-point penalty.^[2] Both Exel Mouscron and Oostende were however eventually awarded a license after appeal, meaning Oostende remained at the top level, while Excel Mouscron only dropped one level.^[3]^[4]

[1] "A-kern". Waasland-Beveren. Retrieved 1 October 2020.

[licenses-2] "KV Oostende en Moeskroen krijgen (weer) geen licentie in eerste zit" [KV Oostende and (again) Mouscron don't receive a license at their first attempt] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 14 April 2021. Retrieved 19 April 2021.

[appealoostende-3] "KV Oostende krijgt licentie van BAS, afwachten voor Moeskroen" [KV Oostende awarded license by BAS, Mouscron still waiting] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.

[appealmouscron-4] "Degradant Moeskroen bemachtigt via BAS opnieuw een licentie" [Relegated Mouscron again obtains license after appeal at BAS] (in Dutch). sporza.be. 10 May 2021. Retrieved 10 May 2021.

[6] "Bondsreglement Titel 7: Competities" [Association Rules Title 7: Competitions] (PDF). Royal Belgian Football Association. p. 19. Retrieved 25 August 2020.

[7] "Club Brugge - Charleroi is de opener van het seizoen en meteen maandagvoetbal: ontdek hier de kalender van het seizoen 2020/21". Voetbalkrant.com (in Dutch). 8 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.

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v t e 2020–21 in Belgian football
« 2019–20 2021–22 »
League competitions	First Division A First Division B National Division 1 Division 2 Division 3
Women's League competitions	Super League Vrouwenvoetbal
Cup competitions	Belgian Cup (Final) Super Cup
Transfers	Summer 2020 Fall 2020 Winter 2020–21 Summer 2021
UEFA competitions	Champions League Europa League
Related to national team	UEFA Euro 2020 (Group B) 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying (Group E) Roberto Martínez
Club seasons
First Division A	Anderlecht Antwerp Beerschot Cercle Brugge Charleroi Club Brugge Eupen Excel Mouscron Genk Gent Kortrijk Mechelen OH Leuven Oostende Sint-Truiden Standard Liège Waasland-Beveren Zulte Waregem
First Division B	Club NXT Deinze Lierse Lommel RWD Molenbeek Seraing Union SG Westerlo