By Andrew Warshaw
August 31 – UEFA were perfectly within their rights to replace disgraced Turkish champions Fenerbahçe with another Turkish club in this season’s Champions League, according to their competitions director.
Fenerbahçe were thrown out of the tournament last week over the country’s match fixing scandal and were replaced by Trabzonspor despite the fact that they, too, have been implicated in the saga.
Just as importantly, Trabzonspor were knocked out in the Champions League qualifiers yet have now been given an immediate second chance – in the group stage proper of the tournament.
UEFA’s competitions director Giorgio Marchetti (pictured) says kicking out Fenerbahçe and reinstating Trabzonspor were the right decisions rather than taking a club from another country with a better coefficient – which is what many neutrals favour.
“The place is reserved for the Turkish FA,” Marchetti told insideworldfootball.
“So that means it has to go to another Turkish club.
“It’s the same if a club qualifies but does not have the appropriate license – it goes to a club from the same country who has.
“The place doesn’t just disappear from the association.”
More than 30 people, including Fenerbahçe’s President Aziz Yıldırım (pictured), have been arrested in the ongoing match fixing scandal.
Fenerbahçe are planning to appeal against their Champions League ban – taken by the Turkish FA after pressure from UEFA and resulting in an estimated loss of €25 million (£22 million/$36 million) – to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
If the appeal is upheld after the start of the group stage, UEFA would have a serious problem on their hands.
The Istanbul club’s lawyer Haluk Burcuoğlu said he was confident of victory.
“This decision [to ban Fenerbahçe] has nothing to do with justice,” Burcuoğlu said.
“The TFF [Turkish Football Federation] does not have the authority to exclude a club from the Champions League.”
Marchetti would not pre-judge the CAS hearing but he insisted UEFA had no choice but to reinstate Trabzonspor.
“You have to stick to the facts,” he said.
“The Turkish FA withdrew Fenerbahçe from the competition, nothing else.
“The runners-up in the Turkish league were Trabzonspor.
“We cannot take a Turkish club ranked lower than them; nor can we give the place to another country.
“You may agree or disagree.
“Personally, I think it’s a justifiable decision.”
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