2020–21 K.V. Oostende season

K.V. Oostende
2020–21 season
Chairman	Franck Dierckens
Manager	Alexander Blessin
Stadium	Versluys Arena
Belgian First Division A	5th
Belgian Cup	Seventh round
Top goalscorer	League: ; Fashion Sakala; (13 goals); All: ; Fashion Sakala; (16 goals)
	← 2021–22 →
	All statistics correct as of 22 May 2021.

The 2020–21 K.V. Oostende season was the club's 117th season in existence and its eighth consecutive season in the top flight of Belgian football. In addition to the domestic league, Oostende participated in this season's edition of the Belgian Cup. The season covered the period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021.

Players[]

First-team squad[]

As of 24 August 2020^[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
4	DF	SCO	Jack Hendry (on loan from Celtic)
5	DF	BEL	Arthur Theate
6	MF	FRA	Maxime D'Arpino
7	FW	SEN	Makhtar Gueye
8	MF	BEL	François Marquet
9	FW	ALB	Sindrit Guri
10	FW	ZAM	Fashion Sakala
11	MF	BEL	Indy Boonen
15	DF	GER	Frederik Jäkel (on loan from RB Leipzig)
17	MF	DEN	Andrew Hjulsager
18	MF	NIR	Cameron McGeehan
19	FW	SEN	Mamadou Thiam
20	DF	FRA	Théo Ndicka


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	FW	AUT	Marko Kvasina
23	DF	ISL	Ari Freyr Skúlason
24	MF	BEL	Evangelos Patoulidis
25	MF	BEL	Jelle Bataille
26	MF	BEL	Kévin Vandendriessche
27	DF	BEL	Brecht Capon
28	GK	BEL	Guillaume Hubert
29	MF	BEL	Robbie D'Haese
33	DF	BEL	Anton Tanghe
34	MF	GER	Nick Bätzner
73	FW	BEL	Jorben Vanhulle
94	GK	BEL	Jordi Schelfhout
99	GK	BEL	Bram Castro

Transfers[]

In[]

Out[]

Pre-season and friendlies[]

Win Draw Loss

4 July 2020 Friendly	Varsenare	0–7	Oostende	Varsenare, Belgium
15:00 CEST (UTC+2)				Stadium: Gemeentelijk Sportcomplex Van Caloen

18 July 2020 Friendly	Sint-Eloois-Winkel	Cancelled	Oostende	Sint-Eloois-Winkel, Belgium
18:00 CEST (UTC+2)				Stadium: Sportpark Terschueren

25 July 2020 Friendly	Oostende	1–2	Union Saint-Gilloise	Oudenburg, Belgium
16:00 CEST (UTC+2)				Stadium: Sportterrein Ter Beke

1 August 2020 Friendly	Oostende	3–1	Cercle Brugge	Ostend, Belgium
16:00 CEST (UTC+2)				Stadium: Versluys Arena

4 September 2020 Friendly	Oostende	Cancelled	Roeselare	Ostend, Belgium
11:00 CEST (UTC+2)				Stadium: Versluys Arena

26 March 2021 Friendly	Oostende	1–4	Gent	Ostend, Belgium
11:30 CET (UTC+1)	10' (o.g.)		Bezus 29' (pen.) Tanghe 31' (o.g.) Malede 72' Tissoudali 76'	Stadium: Versluys Arena

Competitions[]

Overview[]

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	10 August 2020	22 May 2021	Matchday 1	5th	40	17	9	14	64	57	+7	042.50
Belgian Cup	3 February 2021	9 February 2021	Sixth round	Seventh round	2	1	0	1	4	5	−1	050.00
Total					42	18	9	15	68	62	+6	042.86

Last updated: 22 May 2021
Source: Soccerway

Belgian First Division A[]

Regular season[]

Pos	Team v t	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
3	Anderlecht	34	15	13	6	51	34	+17	58	Qualification for the Play-offs I
4	Genk^[a]	34	16	8	10	67	48	+19	56	Qualification for the Play-offs I
5	Oostende^[b]	34	15	8	11	49	41	+8	53	Qualification for the Play-offs II
6	Standard Liège	34	13	11	10	52	41	+11	50
7	Gent	34	14	7	13	55	42	+13	49

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]
Notes:

^ Genk qualifies for at least the play-off round of the Europa League through winning the 2021 Belgian Cup.
^ 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[]

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
34	15	8	11	49	41	+8	53	9	5	3	33	21	+12	6	3	8	16	20	−4

Last updated: 18 April 2021.
Source: Jupiler Pro League

Results by round[]

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	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H
Result	L	L	D	D	W	W	D	W	L	W	L	L	D	L	W	W	D	L	W	W	W	L	W	D	L	W	W	D	W	L	W	L	W	D
Position	14	17	17	17	12	8	9	8	10	10	10	10	11	11	10	10	10	10	8	8	7	8	7	6	8	5	4	4	4	4	4	5	5	5

Updated to match(es) played on 18 April 2021. Source: Jupiler Pro League
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches[]

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

10 August 2020 1	Oostende	1–2	Beerschot	Ostend
19:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Tanghe 19' Gueye 22' Vandendriessche 63' Kvasina 72'	Report	Noubissi 1', 74' Prychynenko 60' Van den Buijs 83'	Stadium: Versluys Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Bram Van Driessche

15 August 2020 2	Charleroi	1–0	Oostende	Charleroi
19:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Rezaei 76' Morioka 80'	Report	Bataille 50' Gueye 57'	Stadium: Stade du Pays de Charleroi Attendance: 0 Referee: Wesli De Cremer

24 August 2020 3	Sint-Truiden	0–0	Oostende	Sint-Truiden
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Lee 22' Teixeira 42'	Report	Hjulsager 18' Skúlason 33' D'Arpino 44' Bataille 59' 76' Gueye 77' Tanghe 83'	Stadium: Stayen Attendance: 0 Referee: Frederik Geldhof

28 August 2020 4	Oostende	2–2	Anderlecht	Ostend
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	D'Haese 11' D'Arpino 29' Gueye 34' (pen.) Theate 56' McGeehan 72'	Report	Kana 33' Trebel 35', 57' Murillo 43' Tau 54'	Stadium: Versluys Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Jan Boterberg

12 September 2020 5	KV Mechelen	0–1	Oostende	Mechelen
16:15 CEST (UTC+2)	Van Damme 52' Kaboré 61' Bijker 75' Hairemans 83' Vanlerberghe 89'	Report	D'Arpino 82' Vandendriessche 90' Hendry 90+5'	Stadium: Achter de Kazerne Attendance: 5,200 Referee: Lothar D'Hondt

19 September 2020 6	Oostende	3–1	OH Leuven	Ostend
16:15 CEST (UTC+2)	Theate 2' Sakala 26', 50', 41' Gueye 32', 60' Bataille 46'	Report	Raemaekers 11' Vlietinck 45+1' Maertens 79'	Stadium: Versluys Arena Attendance: 3,000 Referee: Christof Dierick

28 September 2020 7	Genk	2–2	Oostende	Genk
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Onuachu 9', 52' (pen.) Lucumí 48' Toma 56'	Report	McGeehan 3', 40' Gueye 45', 83' Hjulsager 87' Bataille 90+5' Ndicka 90+7'	Stadium: Luminus Arena Attendance: 2,340 Referee: Nicolas Laforge

4 October 2020 8	Oostende	3–0	Excel Mouscron	Ostend
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Theate 60' Sakala 81' McGeehan 90+3', 90+4'	Report		Stadium: Versluys Arena Attendance: 2,112 Referee: Kevin Van Damme

25 October 2020 10	Oostende	3–0	Zulte Waregem	Ostend
16:00 CET (UTC+1)	Vandendriessche 32' D'Arpino 33' Sakala 37'	Report		Stadium: Versluys Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Bert Put

1 November 2020 11	Standard Liège	1–0	Oostende	Liège
18:15 CET (UTC+1)	Dussenne 86'	Report		Stadium: Stade Maurice Dufrasne Attendance: 0 Referee: Lawrence Visser

8 November 2020 12	Oostende	1–3	Club Brugge	Ostend
16:00 CET (UTC+1)	Gueye 38' Bataille 59' 76' Ndicka 68'	Report	Rits 32' Diatta 81' Badji 90'	Stadium: Versluys Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Kevin Van Damme

21 November 2020 13	Oostende	1–1	Antwerp	Ostend
18:30 CET (UTC+1)	Tanghe 80' Kvasina 89'	Report	Haroun 34' Refaelov 81'	Stadium: Versluys Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Erik Lambrechts

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

29 November 2020 14	Kortrijk	3–1	Oostende	Kortrijk
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Dewaele 4' Guèye 49' Mboyo 80'	Report	McGeehan 17' Hjulsager 32', 57' Hendry 77'	Stadium: Guldensporen Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Nathan Verboomen

6 December 2020 15	Oostende	2–1	Gent	Ostend
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Skúlason 45+2' Gueye 59', 61' Sakala 73' (pen.)	Report	Bukari 5', 67' Fortuna 89' Ngadeu-Ngadjui 90+5' Bezus 90+5'	Stadium: Versluys Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Lothar D'hondt

12 December 2020 16	Cercle Brugge	0–1	Oostende	Bruges
18:30 CET (UTC+1)	Omolo 39' Bates 52' Vanhoutte 62'	Report	Vandendriessche 29'	Stadium: Jan Breydel Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Jasper Vergoote

15 December 2020 18	Anderlecht	2–1	Oostende	Anderlecht
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Nmecha 18', 58' (pen.)	Report	McGeehan 83'	Stadium: Lotto Park Attendance: 0 Referee: Kevin Van Damme

26 December 2020 19	OH Leuven	1–2	Oostende	Leuven
18:30 CET (UTC+1)	Malinov 35' Ngawa 82'	Report	D'Arpino 29' Skúlason 37' Theate 59' Ngawa 72' (o.g.) Bataille 79'	Stadium: Den Dreef Attendance: 0 Referee: Bert Put

9 January 2021 30	Oostende	3–2	Charleroi	Ostend
20:45 CET (UTC+1)		Report		Stadium: Diaz Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Lothar D'hondt

12 January 2021 17	Oostende	1–1	Eupen	Ostend
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Kvasina 79'	Report	Prevljak 49'	Stadium: Diaz Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Kevin Van Damme

16 January 2021 20	Oostende	2–1	Kortrijk	Ostend
16:15 CET (UTC+1)				Stadium: Diaz Arena Attendance: 0

20 January 2021 21	Club Brugge	2–1	Oostende	Bruges
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Lang 32' Dost 38' Diatta 49'	Report	Mata 14' (o.g.) Jäkel 40' Sakala 52'	Stadium: Jan Breydel Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Wim Smet

23 January 2021 22	Antwerp	1–2	Oostende	Antwerp
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Gerkens 15' Lukaku 22' Buta 34' Hongla 51'	Report	Hendry 8' Sakala 35' Hjulsager 59' Bätzner 62' Kvasina 85'	Stadium: Bosuilstadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Bert Put

28 January 2021 23	Oostende	2–2	Standard Liège	Ostend
21:00 CET (UTC+1)	Sakala 8', 64' Hubert 88' Hjulsager 89'	Report	Balikwisha 47' Bokadi 90+4'	Stadium: Diaz Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Wesli De Cremer

31 January 2021 24	Zulte Waregem	2–1	Oostende	Waregem
16:00 CET (UTC+1)	Bruno 38' Deschacht 44' Vossen 65'	Report	Sakala 14' Theate 69'	Stadium: Regenboogstadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Jan Boterberg

6 February 2021 25	Oostende	3–1	Sint-Truiden	Ostend
16:15 CET (UTC+1)	Gueye 38', 60' (pen.) Sakala 74' (pen.)	Report	Lavalée 73' Suzuki 90'	Stadium: Diaz Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Lothar D'hondt

17 February 2021 26	Oostende	3–1	Genk	Ostend
19:00 CET (UTC+1)	Hubert 9' Gueye 22' (pen.), 26' (pen.) Theate 58'	Report	Onuachu 10' (pen.) Cuesta 26' McKenzie 90+1'	Stadium: Diaz Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Wim Smet

20 February 2021 27	Eupen	1–1	Oostende	Eupen
16:15 CET (UTC+1)	Cools 47' Kayembe 67' Baby 84' Peeters 88'	Report	Hjulsager 49' Tanghe 63' Bataille 90+1'	Stadium: Kehrwegstadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Jasper Vergoote

27 February 2021 28	Oostende	2–0	KV Mechelen	Ostend
18:30 CET (UTC+1)	D'Arpino 15' Gueye 27' (pen.) Tanghe 28' Capon 86'	Report	Hairemans 17' Bateau 26' Vanlerberghe 88'	Stadium: Diaz Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Bert Put

8 March 2021 29	Gent	1–0	Oostende	Ghent
20:45 CET (UTC+1)	Yaremchuk 41' Bezus 52'	Report		Stadium: Ghelamco Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Wim Smet

20 March 2021 31	Excel Mouscron	0–1	Oostende	Mouscron
18:30 CET (UTC+1)	Hočko 45+3'	Report	D'Arpino 57' Gueye 90+2'	Stadium: Stade Le Canonnier Attendance: 0 Referee: Bert Put

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

11 April 2021 33	Beerschot	1–2	Oostende	Antwerp
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Brogno 23', 63'	Report	Kvasina 81' Bataille 84', 88' Thiam 90+2'	Stadium: Olympisch Stadion Attendance: 0 Referee: Nicolas Laforge

18 April 2021 34	Oostende	1–1	Cercle Brugge	Ostend
18:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Hendry 79' Kvasina 90+2' Ndicka 90+5'	Report	Ugbo 49' Corryn 64' Biancone 79'	Stadium: Diaz Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Alexandre Boucaut

Play-Off II[]

Pos	Team v t	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation	GNT	MEC	OOS	STA
1	Gent	6	4	1	1	13	6	+7	38	Qualification for the Europa Conference League second qualifying round^[a]	—	2–2	2–1	2–0
2	Mechelen	6	3	2	1	15	11	+4	35		1–2	—	5–3	3–1
3	Oostende	6	2	1	3	15	16	−1	34		0–4	2–2	—	6–2
4	Standard Liège	6	1	0	5	7	17	−10	28		2–1	1–2	1–3	—

Source: Jupiler Pro League (in Dutch), Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Points without (possible) half points added due to rounding; 3) Regular season finishing position.^[7]
Notes:

^ Winner of Play-off II qualifies directly to Europa Conference League second qualifying round due to Genk winning the 2021 Belgian Cup Final resulting in all teams from the Play-Off I qualifying for European football already.

Results summary[]

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
6	2	1	3	15	16	−1	7	1	1	1	8	8	0	1	0	2	7	8	−1

Last updated: 22 May 2021.
Source: Jupiler Pro League

Results by round[]

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6
Ground	H	A	A	H	H	A
Result	W	L	L	L	D	W
Position	1	1	2	3	3	3

Updated to match(es) played on 22 May 2021. Source: Jupiler Pro League
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches[]

1 May 2021 1	Oostende	6–2	Standard Liège	Ostend
20:45 CEST (UTC+2)	Kvasina 30' Bätzner 39' Theate 44', 62' Capon 62' Hjulsager 64' Ndicka 90+3' Boonen 90+6'	Report	Carcela 27' 50', 45+2' Muleka 45' Balikwisha 78' Delferrière 89'	Stadium: Diaz Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Lothar D'hondt

9 May 2021 2	KV Mechelen	5–3	Oostende	Mechelen
16:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Vranckx 16' Storm 34', 66', 63' Mrabti 38' Vanlerberghe 84' De Camargo 90+2'	Report	Sakala 14' Bataille 17' Theate 30', 55' Hjulsager 81'	Stadium: Achter de Kazerne Attendance: 0 Referee: Bram Van Driessche

13 May 2021 3	Gent	2–1	Oostende	Ghent
13:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Yaremchuk 14', 90+2' Ngadeu-Ngadjui 25' Godeau 59'	Report	D'Haese 43' Hjulsager 62' D'Arpino 73' Gueye 81'	Stadium: Ghelamco Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Nicolas Laforge

16 May 2021 4	Oostende	0–4	Gent	Ostend
13:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Hubert 34'	Report	Bezus 20', 66' Castro-Montes 43' Vandendriessche 58' (o.g.) Hanche-Olsen 89'	Stadium: Diaz Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Erik Lambrechts

19 May 2021 5	Oostende	2–2	KV Mechelen	Ostend
18:30 CEST (UTC+2)	Sakala 5', 20' Jäkel 42' Hubert 51' Vandendriessche 69'	Report	Vranckx 40' 81' Druijf 47' Bateau 63'	Stadium: Diaz Arena Attendance: 0 Referee: Nathan Verboomen

22 May 2021 6	Standard Liège	1–3	Oostende	Liège
20:00 CEST (UTC+2)	Balikwisha 13' Klauss 63' Laifis 90+1'	Report	Vandendriessche 6', 61' Boonen 50' Thiam 90' Ndicka 90+3'	Stadium: Stade Maurice Dufrasne Attendance: 0 Referee: Wim Smet

Belgian Cup[]

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

9 February 2021 Seventh round	Cercle Brugge	3–1	Oostende	Bruges
18:00 CET (UTC+1)	Deman 32', 34' Denkey 61', 64' Van der Bruggen 83' Ugbo 90'	Report	Bätzner 29' Thiam 90+1'	Stadium: Jan Breydel Stadium Attendance: 0 Referee: Bert Put

Statistics[]

Goalscorers[]

As of 8 March 2021^[8]

Rank	No.	Pos	Name	Pro League	Belgian Cup	Total
1	7	FW	Makhtar Gueye	11	2	13
1	10	FW	Fashion Sakala	13	0	13
3	17	MF	Andrew Hjulsager	3	1	4
4	5	DF	Arthur Theate	3	0	3
	18	MF	Cameron McGeehan	3	0	3
	26	MF	Kévin Vandendriessche	3	0	3
7	4	DF	Jack Hendry	2	0	2
7	21	FW	Marko Kvasina	2	0	2
9	6	MF	Maxime D'Arpino	1	0	1
	27	MF	Brecht Capon	1	0	1
	29	MF	Robbie D'Haese	1	0	1
	33	DF	Anton Tanghe	1	0	1
	34	MF	Nick Bätzner	0	1	1
Own goals				1	0	1
Totals				45	4	49

References[]

^ "Spelers A-Kern" (in Dutch). K.V. Oostende.
^ "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" [Associtation 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.
^ "BOEK P" [BOOK P] (PDF). Belgian FA. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
^ "2020-2021 Oostende Stats". FBref. Retrieved 28 February 2021.

External links[]

Official website

[table_note_GNK0.50334529834955-2] Genk qualifies for at least the play-off round of the Europa League through winning the 2021 Belgian Cup.

[table_note_OOS0.50334529834955-6] 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]

[table_note_res_EUPO0.29241553754193-9] Winner of Play-off II qualifies directly to Europa Conference League second qualifying round due to Genk winning the 2021 Belgian Cup Final resulting in all teams from the Play-Off I qualifying for European football already.

[1] "Spelers A-Kern" (in Dutch). K.V. Oostende.

[licenses-3] "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-4] "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-5] "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.

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

[8] "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.

[10] "BOEK P" [BOOK P] (PDF). Belgian FA. Retrieved 3 May 2021.

[11] "2020-2021 Oostende Stats". FBref. Retrieved 28 February 2021.

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v t 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
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