18 clubs in the LN, ten from LNA and 8 from LNB, obtained their operating license for next year. Six clubs (1 from LNA and 5 from LNB) did not recieve them. They are the following: FC Wil (LNA) [not unexpected due to their financial difficulties from their last president] Lausanne-Sports [huge financial problems] FC Winterthur [not too sure about their situiation] FC Sion [see Olympique des Alps] FC Baden [not sure about their situiation] FC Lugano [bankrupt] (LNB). To obtain a license, these clubs must rectify the problem by June. To obtain a license, not only do finances have to be in order, but also infrastructure of the club, youth development, etc. If LS, FC WInterthur, and FC Baden do not get a license, does that mean three other 1st league teams will make the ascention to LNB? There could be lots of turnover in the LNB this year...so much for the year without relegation.
http://www.uefa.com/footballcentral/news/Kind=2/newsId=66901.html Not good for some Austrian Clubs: SV Austria Salzburg Schwarz-Weiss Bregenz DSV Leoben SEZ BSV Bad Bleiberg LASK Linz SV Woergl The clubs have 10 days to appeal the decision, and a final decision will be made by the end of May.
:sigh: I wonder if St.Gallen, Vaduz, or Luzern are gonna end up taking Wil's spot. This financial circus needs to end next year...
There could be a huge amount of turnover in the LM this next year. Lets take the worst case possible, all of these teams get dropped to the 5th league. That puts three teams into LNA; Aarau, and two of the following three, St Gallen, Vaduz, and Luzern. That leaves only 4 to drop into the 8 remaining LNB teams. A ready 4 from the 1st league would come up. No add the LNB teams in trouble, excapt FC Sion, and you have three other teams being dropped. That would make a total of seven teams coming up from the 1st league. Wow! Talk about turnover in the LNB.
The following clubs have appealed the first decision about their licenses: FC Wil FC Winterthur FC Sion FC Baden For obvious reasons LS and FC Lugano did not appeal their loss of license. The decisions will be announced at the latest b 6 June. The way it stands there will be four 1st league teams going up to LNB with a possibility of four more. That means half of the LNB next year could come from the 1st league this year. There could be a large competitive disadvantage possible in the league.
Well, here's what happened in the appeal process. The teams were given an opportunity to present additional material to the board in support of their license application. Based on that, the two Bundesliga teams (Salzburg, Bregenz) were awarded licenses and two of the four 1. Division clubs were as well (Bad Bleiberg, Woergl). Bregenz currently sits at the bottom of the Bundesliga table, so they may join the 1. Division teams next year. LASK Linz and Leoben did not succeed in the appeal process and are unable to present additional information now. A final appeal decision on those will be made by the end of the month. Leoben is currently second in the 1. Division, and LASK Linz is ninth. If either of these clubs fails to earn a license for next year, it would mean Sportklub (a former team of Austrian legend and current National Team Coach Hans Krankl) would be saved from relegation from the 1. Division. Incidentally, that's how Admira Moedling, the last club team Krankl coached stayed in the Bundesliga this season.
FC Wil has lost their appeal for a LNA license. They have initially been denied a license for LNB, and have a short time to appeal. But it does not look promising. Here would be the repercussions: Three from the Promotion/Relegation round would advance: 1. Aarau 9 7 1 1 19:5 22 2. St. Gallen 10 5 3 2 19:8 18 3. Luzern 9 3 4 2 16:13 13 4. Kriens 10 3 2 5 14:20 11 5. Vaduz 9 2 4 3 9:15 10 6. Delémont 10 2 3 5 11:18 9 7. Sion 9 1 3 5 7:16 6 Luzern has the edge here. Also there would be 5 1st league teams advancing to LNB. The four playoff winners, plus the team that lost who had the most points in the regular season. FC Meyrin-71 FC Malcantone Agno- 61 SC YF Juventus- 61 FC Chiasso- 59 FC Tuggen- 58 FC Wangen b.O. 56 La Chaux de Fonds- 56 FC Bulle-55 FC Mayrin is in because even if they loose to Tuggen, they would have the most points remaining.
Reuters picked up the story about FC Wil: http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-switzerlandwil&prov=reuters&type=lgns
http://www.uefa.com/footballcentral/news/Kind=2/newsId=70000.html Rogger Bigger, president of FC Wil 1900 said "For us this is no surprise. The documents we provided were more a declaration of our future plans. On 27 May we will present documents that should bring us the A licence and provide the necessary financial guarantees." Looks like the fate of FC Wil will be decided in the next week.
Here's the deal: FC Wil needs to have CHF 300,000 by Tuesday - or else no NLA license. Wil president Bigger: "I'm confident that we can get the money."
It will be interesting to see if they can get the money. How much do they have to get for a LNB license? At least the decision will be made before the end of the season. That way no matter how it ends up, the teams can plan for where they will be.
Well, according to Wil president Bigger, they already have the money. Looks like Wil is going to get the license - tough cookies for Luzern. 2003/04 NLA (10 teams) Grasshoppers Basel Xamax Young Boys Servette FC Zurich Thun FC Wil Aarau St. Gallen 2003/04 NLB (16 teams) Luzern Sion Vaduz Delemont Kriens Concordia Schaffhausen Baden Yverdon Wohlen Bellinzona Winterthur Tuggen/Meyrin La Chaux-deFonds/Malcantone Agno Bulle/YF Juventus Zürich Chiasso/Wangen There are still some license issues in the NLB, so this line-up might change.
Today is D-Day for the clubs. They presented their defense yesterday and the results will be announced today. There are a few clubs that are still waiting to hear about their future: FC Wil FC St-Gallen FC Baden FC Sion FC Winterthur It will be interesting to see how this works out.
Well, with the exception of Sion, all clubs got their licenses (La Chaux-deFonds gets Sion's place). So this is how the leagues will look next season... 2003/04 NLA (10 teams) Grasshoppers Basel Xamax Young Boys Servette FC Zurich Thun FC Wil Aarau St. Gallen 2003/04 NLB (16 teams) Luzern La Chaux-deFonds Vaduz Delemont Kriens Concordia Schaffhausen Baden Yverdon Wohlen Bellinzona Winterthur Meyrin Malcantone Agno Bulle Chiasso
I like the looks of the LN for the upcoming year. Both leagues are pretty balanced. Looking at the future schedule, I forsee some good derby's: LNA Servette-Xamax GCZ-FCZ Thun-YB Wil-St Gallen LNB: Yverdon-Bulle Malcantone Agno-Chiasso-Bellinzona Delemont-La Chaux-de Fonds among others. I am excited!