Eskişehirspor and Sivasspor decisions welcomed

UEFA has welcomed the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decisions to reject Eskişehirspor and Sivasspor's appeals against their exclusion from the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League.

According to Article 2.07 g) of the Regulations of the UEFA Europa League, to be eligible to participate in a competition a club must "not have been directly and/or indirectly involved, since the entry into force of Article 50(3) of the UEFA Statutes, i.e. 27 April 2007, in any activity aimed at arranging or influencing the outcome of a match at national or international level and must confirm this to the UEFA administration in writing".

The UEFA Appeals Body excluded both teams from the 2014/15 UEFA Europa League after having found both clubs guilty of match-fixing offences at domestic matches in the season 2010/11. Now, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has confirmed this decision.

UEFA is following a strict zero-tolerance policy regarding match-fixing and corruption. Serious sanctions (including lifetime bans from football or exclusion from UEFA competitions) are imposed in cases where players, officials, referees or clubs have been found guilty of breaching these provisions.