Fenerbahçe drop CAS appeal against UEFA

By David Gold

April 27 – Turkish side Fenerbahçe have dropped a case with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against UEFA over their expulsion from this season’s Champions League.

Fenerbahçe were kicked out of the competition on the eve of the draw in August due to their alleged role in the match fixing scandal which has rocked Turkish football.

Last season’s title winners are the most prominent team accused of involvement in the scandal, in which a number of sides are facing potential penalties if found guilty.

Their chairman Aziz Yıldırım (pictured above) is the highest profile defendant currently trying to clear his name in the courts.

Fenerbahçe are accused of conspiring to influence the results of matches last season, which saw them win 18 of their last 19 games in a remarkable surge to the league title, including a dramatic 4-3 final day victory over Sivasspor.

The club had asked to be relegated after the expulsion from the Champions League, after which they were replaced in the competition by Trabzonspor, who were also implicated in the scandal.

The Istanbul giants had lodged an appeal with CAS against UEFA for €45 million (£36.7million/$60 million) they claim to be owed in lost revenues.

The club could have expected to receive €20 million (£16 million/$26 million) from UEFA for participating in the competition, while they would also have taken in more from gate receipts, whilst their value on the stock exchange plummeted during the initial investigation last year.

Fenerbahçe announced though that they had dropped the case without any further explanation.

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