By Andrew Warshaw
August 7 – UEFA’s crackdown on match-fixing could seriously affect this season’s Champions League after Europe’s governing body opened urgent disciplinary proceedings against Metalist Kharkiv.
The Ukrainians host Greek side PAOK Thessaloniki in the second leg of the Champions League’s third qualifying round tonight and are expected to advance after winning 2-0 in Greece last week.
But their further participation in the competition is now in grave doubt.
Last week, the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed an appeal from the club’s sporting director Yevhen Krasnikov against a five-year ban, upholding a Ukrainian FA ruling that Krasnikov had helped to fix a league match against Karpaty Lviv in April 2008.
Uefa rules allow them to throw a club out if it is found to have been involved directly or indirectly in “any activity aimed at arranging or influencing the outcome of a match at national or international level.” Following a change in its statutes, Uefa can now take retrospective action back to April 2007.
Metalist’s case will be heard next Tuesday in order to ensure any verdict does not disrupt the subsequent Champions League round. No information has yet been provided as to who would take Metalist’s place. “Due to the urgency … the case has been referred directly to the UEFA appeals body,” a UEFA statement said.
The playoff round draw is this Friday, with big guns like Arsenal and AC Milan both possible opponents for Metalist should they get through, with first-leg matches scheduled for August 20 and 21.
The case is further complicated by the fact that even if UEFA’s appeal panel rules against Metalist, that judgment can also be challenged at CAS – just as the Ukrainian league runners-up pursue their debut Champions League campaign.
The legal saga is certainly destined to drag on with Metalist club president Sergii Kurchenko suggesting the CAS ruling could be appealed to Switzerland’s supreme court.
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