UNESCO over UEFA: why Club Brugge suddenly plays its “match of the year” on Wednesday

Make no mistake. Club Brugge will play its historic semi-final tonight – and not, as is traditional in the Conference League, on Thursday evening. Why? Background on how UEFA must make way for UNESCO.

It was an asterisk that passed relatively unnoticed in mid-March in the communication surrounding the final phase of the Conference League.

Already then – more than a month before Club Brugge would qualify for the semi-finals – UEFA noted that Blue and Black would not be able to play a possible return match in the semi-finals in front of their own audience on May 9.

The consequence of the Belgian Cup final, which is also scheduled for that day?

No, the cause has nothing to do with football at all. With the religious Procession of the Holy Blood.

For those seeking added value: this is a historical procession around the relic of the Holy Blood, which passes through the city center of Bruges and was founded in 1304.

Since 2009, the procession has also been inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural World Heritage list.

The event touches the entire city every year on the Ascension of Our Lord, but this time the timing was unfortunate.

May 9… Then the Club Brugge semi-final was also originally planned.

And so UEFA had to give in to the UNESCO heritage. In the recent past, it is quite unprecedented for a match to be rescheduled at this stage of the competition.

We realize very well that supporters who travel from Italy for the match like to drink a beer, sing and express their group feeling.

Dirk De fauw, mayor of Bruges

The city of Bruges was a major advocate behind this adjustment.

“Because Thursday is Bruges’ most beautiful day,” mayor Dirk De fauw underlines. “Look, if Club wins, it will also be a great day, but the Procession of the Holy Blood is the most beautiful thing.”

And for the mayor of Bruges, that cannot go hand in hand with football.

“We are well aware that supporters who travel from Italy for the match like to have a beer here, sing and express their group feeling. But that should absolutely not coincide with the procession – a devout moment in which scenes from the Old and New Testament are depicted .”

“That is why we have asked to move to another date.”

For a moment, the parties involved even considered a drastic intervention by switching the outward and return leg, but after weighing several factors, it was decided to move the match forward one day.

“It was Club that conducted the negotiations with UEFA,” said De fauw. “They reportedly had a lot of understanding for our situation. The mutual relationship is good, everything happened in consultation and we never had to threaten with an absolute ban.”

(read more below photo)

However, the beaten solution is not ideal for everyone.

For UEFA, a Wednesday is normally all about the Champions League – Real Madrid and Bayern Munich will soon be fighting for the last place in the final.

In order not to end up in that water, Club will start its appointment with history against Fiorentina at 6.45 pm. But suppose that clash ends in extra time and penalties… Then both matches could overlap for a while.

On the other hand, the early kick-off time is not ideal for many fans, who will have to rush after a working day to make it to kick-off on time.

And the city of Bruges also has to make additional sacrifices.

“Because the Fiorentina supporters will soon gather in advance at the Market, but it is already full of stands for the procession. We assume that they will take a seat there for a while. And so a cleaning service will have to make everything nice.”

But when Club completes its European stunt course, it will undoubtedly do so with a smile.