By Andrew Warshaw
March 28 – The Football Association of Wales (FAW) are considering taking UEFA to Europe’s highest sporting court, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), for barring their clubs, including Premier League Swansea City, from playing in the Welsh Cup in order to try and gain a berth in the Europa League.
Last week UEFA’s Executive Committee threw out a Welsh request to allow to likes of Swansea City and Cardiff City (pictured below), who play in the English league, from competing in their own domestic cup instead of the FA Cup, giving them a far better chance than they have now of qualifying for Europe.
FAW chief executive Jonathan Ford was said to have been bitterly disappointed by the ruling but it has now emerged the Welsh may take their case to CAS.
“We will now be considering making an appeal to CAS,” FAW President Phil Pritchard (pictured right) told insideworldfootball.
“It’s quite serious in our opinion.
“We have the opportunity to exhaust every avenue in football and we will do that.
“We must do that, in fact, on behalf of our clubs.”
Although UEFA insist that clubs cannot play in one country’s league and another country’s cup competition, Pritchard said there were enough factors involved for Wales to take a strong case to the CAS.
“I don’t accept that argument,” he said.
“There are many countries like us who have border situations and we need some flexibility in the game.
“It isn’t black and white all the time.”
Ford added: “I would have preferred a decision to be made [by UEFA] whereby those [Welsh] clubs who are exiled had the opportunity to do as we wished.
“We now need to take stock and regroup.”
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