Thursday, 25 August 2011

Trabzonspor Replace Fenerbahce



Fenerbahce will be replaced by Trabzonspor in the group stage of the Champions League after being withdrawn from the competition by the Turkish Football Federation due to an ongoing match-fixing investigation.

The announcement comes on the eve of the Champions League group stage draw in Monaco on Thursday.

There had been speculation that a defeated play-off team could get Fenerbahce's spot and that Arsenal would be guaranteed a place in the group stage, regardless of the outcome of their tie against Udinese, because they have the best Uefa coefficient of the play-off clubs.

However a Uefa emergency panel, composed of the president, Michel Platini, and four members of the governing body's executive committee, chose to give the place to Trabzonspor. They were runners-up in the Turkish league last season.

Uefa's decision led to the cancellation of Trabzonspor's Europa League play-off second leg against Athletic Bilbao, which was scheduled for Thursday. The Spanish club will progress automatically.

According to a statement on the TFF website, Uefa wrote to the federation on Tuesday to demand Fenerbahce's withdrawal, threatening wider disciplinary action against the TFF should they fail to do so. The letter was forwarded to Fenerbahce, who declined to withdraw.

"In the face of this development, on 24 August an extraordinary meeting of the board of directors was held to discuss the threat of the Turkish Football Federation being exposed to severe disciplinary sanctions if Fenerbahce took part in the Uefa Champions League this season, and it was decided to bar them from participating," the statement said.

Commenting on the Uefa emergency panel decision, Uefa's general secretary, Gianni Infantino, said: "The panel considered that the Turkish Football Federation took the right decision to protect the game, fully in line with our zero-tolerance policy against match-fixing. The Turkish Football Federation has shown with this decision that it takes its full responsibility in the fight against corruption."

Fenerbahce were crowned league champions last season, beating Trabzonspor to the Super Lig title with a 4-3 win on the final day.

The final standings remain official but the Fenerbahce president, Aziz Yildirim, is one of more than 30 people held in custody pending trial on the matter.




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