By Andrew Warshaw
August 24 – Turkish champions Fenerbahçe were sensationally thrown out of the Champions League today over the country’s match fixing scandal that has even implicated the club’s chairman.
The move came just 24 hours before the draw for the group stages of the competition in Monaco when Fenerbahçe were due to be in pot three with the prospect of being paired with the cream of European football.
The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) confirmed via a statement on its official website that the club – 18 times Turkish champions – will not compete following an extraordinary board meeting today.
Fenerbahçe, who were scheduled to play six group matches from September to December, will be replaced by fellow Turkish side Trabzonspor, runners-up in the domestic league.
Fenerbahçe chair Aziz Yıldırım is one of over 30 people jailed and awaiting trial for alleged manipulation of 19 matches.
The start to the Turkish season has already been put back by a month until September 9 for the TFF to sort out the mess.
There had been speculation that a defeated play-off team could get Fenerbahçe’s spot and that Arsenal might be guaranteed a place in the group stage, regardless of the outcome of their tie against Udinese.
However, a UEFA emergency panel, composed of UEFA President Michel Platini and four members of the governing body’s executive committee, chose to give the place to Trabzonspor and cancelled their Europa League play-off second leg against Athletic Bilbao, which was scheduled for Thursday.
Some will question the decision to promote Trabzonspor, however, since they too have been implicated in match-fixing allegations.
According to Turkish reports, UEFA sent a letter to the TFF demanding Fenerbahçe withdraw because of the match-rigging scandal.
UEFA is understood to have warned that if neither the TFF nor the club acted, it would consider imposing even heavier sanctions on Turkish football.
As a result, when Fenerbahçe refused to budge, the TFF kicked the club out for fear of greater punishment.
Fenerbahçe’s unprecedented ban is a stark indication of how seriously UEFA is taking the scourge of match fixing.
In a statement, UEFA said: “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 Fenerbahçe took part in the UEFA Champions League this season, and it was decided to bar them from participating.”
Commenting on the 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.”
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