A bizarre move by Austrian Bundesliga as they deducted six points from league leaders LASK Linz for breaking social distancing rules.
According to APA news agency, Linz face the league’s disciplinary tribunal for staging team practice sessions two weeks ago, despite the fact that they were only allowed to train in small groups.
The issue became viral as several rival clubs received videos of Linz practice sessions.
The club apologized but defended their actions as they felt it was safe to hold team sessions after they have tested negative for COVID-19.
Linz were handed an initial 12-point deduction but all teams’ points tallies are cut to a half since they are split into two groups of six, with the top six playing for the title and the remainder to avoid relegation.
As a result, Linz’s deduction was reduced to six and were fined for 75,000 euros.
The punishment means Linz, who had 27 points from 22 games drop to second place, three points behind Salzburg and only one point ahead of Rapid Vienna and two in front of Wolfsberger.
The league restarts on June 2 with 10 rounds of matches remaining.