The Austrians go for the play-off and play-out system and eliminate “the biggest stupidity in the history of football”
Article by Daniel Grigore – Published Wednesday, October 15, 2025 10:10 p.m. / Updated Wednesday, October 15, 2025 10:14 p.m.
The Austrian Championship, which takes place in a similar format to Romania's, will undergo an important change starting from the next season.
Starting from the 2018/2019 season, the Austrian championship takes place in a play-off and play-out system, respectively with the halving of the points accumulated in the regular season. It is the same system used in the Romanian Superliga.
In recent years, criticism of the system has increased in Austria, so the parties involved have voted for a fundamental change, which will come into play starting from the 2026/2027 season: points will no longer be halved before entering the play-offs and play-outs.
Austria stays with the play-offs and play-outs, but gives up the halving of the points
The decision was voted today, with the CEO of the championship, Christian Ebenbauer, stating:
“The 12-team format has proven a real success since its introduction in 2018. While the format has been generally satisfactory, especially from a sporting perspective, the halving of points after the regular season has been a recurring topic.
The clubs have now voted unanimously to suspend the points halving from next season. However, we are convinced that the format remains attractive and offers many exciting elements throughout the season.”
Sturm Graz leads the championship with 18 points, one above Wolfsberger, Rapid Vienna and Salzburg. Grazer is the last ranked, 5 points, immediately below LASK.
The first 6 placed at the end of the regular season continue in the play-off, the next 6 in the play-out. In the end, the last clast in the play-out is relegated.
Opposition in Romania as well
In our country too, there were and are opponents of the rule of halving the points. Over the years, Dan Petrescu has spoken out several times in this sense.
“Halving the points is the biggest stupidity in the history of football” and “Is there anywhere else in the world that takes half of your points? A friend from England told me to sue them to take the points” are some of the “Badger's” stances.
In Belgium, it returns to the classic, round-trip format
It is a new blow for the followers of this competitive system. At the beginning of the year, the Belgians went even further and they decided to abandon the format with play-offs and play-outs, and from the 2026/2027 season it will return to the model with round-trip matches and 18 participants.
