The 2020 season of the Venezuelan first division football was definitively suspended due to the new coronavirus pandemic, announced the local federation, while the decision was protested by the League, which co-organizes the tournaments.
After the extension of the "state of alarm" declared in the country for an additional 30 days and, with it, the quarantine, the board of directors of the Venezuelan Football Federation (FVF) resolved to "definitely suspend" the "2020 season of the first and second division categories, given the impossibility" to "fulfill" the schedule, according to a resolution approved on Thursday and released on Friday by the entity in a press release.
"Results of the played matches are annulled and left without any effect (...) as well as the classification table" up to date, the resolution adds.
The mechanisms to define the spots for Venezuelan clubs in the 2021 editions of the Copa Libertadores and the Copa Sudamericana, events that remain suspended this year, are on hold. Two teams from the Caribbean country were still in the current Libertadores: Caracas FC and Estudiantes de Mérida.
The FVF now proposes to "develop" a new format in order to resume the competition in case the national authorities decide to lift the confinement.
The League, which co-organizes the tournaments with the FVF, rejected the federation's decision to definitively suspend the season in a statement released on Friday, stating that it was taken without "prior consultation".
The decision puts "sporting and economic stability" of the clubs at risk, the statement adds.
After six rounds, Zamora was leading the local competition with 16 points, followed by Caracas, the defending champions.
The campaign had a new annual format after the elimination of the Apertura and Clausura semi-annual tournaments. The last matches before a quarantine was imposed in Venezuela and all sports activities were banned were played on March 9th.
(With information from AFP)