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Dutch football season over, but no title for leaders Ajax

The Eredivisie has ended the league’s season following an announcement from Prime Minister Mark Rutte that stated that all matches are forbidden until September.

As a result, the current table has been made final, although Ajax will not be awarded the title for finishing first with the Eredivisie not having a designated champion for the first time in the league’s 64-year history.

The decision to finalise the table was made after UEFA asked the Dutch federation to maintain the current standings to decide which teams are awarded spots in European competition. Ajax will head straight to the last round of Champions League qualification despite being level on points with AZ Alkmaar, who will enter in the second round of qualifiers.

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Feyenoord, meanwhile, will head to the Europa League group stage as they sat third while PSV and Willem II will enter the Europa League in the third and second round of qualifiers, respectively. The decision to award Willem II a Europa League spot is a controversial one as the fifth-place club played one more match than sixth-place FC Utrecht, who sat three points behind with a far superior goal difference.

Additionally, ADO Den Haag and RKC Waalwijk will remain in the Eredivisie next season after the Dutch federation opted to not promote or relegate any teams based on this season’s results.

The decision was made by the KNVB Friday following a club vote after the federation stated that it was not an option to increase the league to 20 teams.

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