The Belgian professional football license is a license

License

The verb license or grant licence means to give permission. The noun license or licence refers to that permission as well as to the document recording that permission.A license may be granted by a party to another party as an element of an agreement...

 that any team qualified to play the Belgian Pro League must have obtained. If a qualified team does not obtain the license, it is relegated to the third division

Belgian Third Division

The Belgian Third Division is the third highest level in Belgian football. It has two leagues of 18 teams each at the same level. This competition, known as the Belgian Promotion was first played in the 1926-27 season with three leagues, then with four leagues between 1931 and 1952. From 1952...

. When the license was introduced, it was decided that a team without the license would not be replaced, but it is still not effective. A similar license

Belgian remunerated football license

The Belgian remunerated football license is a license giving permission to a Belgian football club to play in the Belgian Second Division. It is delivered by the Belgian Football Association...

 is given to clubs in the second division

Belgian Second Division

The Belgian Second Division is the second-highest division in the Belgian football league system after the Belgian Pro League. It was created by the Belgian Football Association in 1905. Between 2008 and 2010 it was named EXQI League after a television channel owned by the league main sponsor,...

, but it is looser.

Terms

To be considered professional, a club must, a.o.:

• play or qualify for the first division;
• dispose of at least 20 players having the status of remunerated player;
• prove that it is financially healthy and has enough credit to at least get through the next season under normal circumstances;
• prove that the players' wages are being paid, that debts to the Royal Belgian Football Association have been paid or will be paid, that debts between clubs have been paid or will be paid and that all tax payments have been paid;
• employ trainers of certified levels;
• dispose of a stadium with the following conditions:
  • its luminosity is of at least 800 lux
    Lux
    The lux is the SI unit of illuminance and luminous emittance, measuring luminous flux per unit area. It is used in photometry as a measure of the intensity, as perceived by the human eye, of light that hits or passes through a surface...
    
    at the beginning of the second season played in first division;
  • the ground must measure between 64 and 75 m (width) and 105 and 110 m (length);
  • the stadium must be of a capacity of at least 8,000 with minimum 5,000 seats;