Fenerbahce is back in Champions League
Source: Agencies |
July 21, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
TURKISH club Fenerbahce is set to return to the European Champions League against FC Vaslui of Romania in the third qualifying round after serving a one-year exile during a match-fixing investigation.
Fenerbahce, whose president was convicted of fixing in a criminal trial this month, was included in the draw yesterday. However, UEFA is still examining whether the club meets entry rules.
Clubs must not have been involved in fixing any match since April 2007.
Motherwell, the Scottish league runner-up that gained the spot after indebted Rangers was excluded, will be at home first against Panathinaikos. Two former European champions were in the draw: Celtic, the 1967 winner, is home first against HJK Helsinki or KR Reykjavik. Feyenoord, the 1970 winner, travels first to Dynamo Kiev.
UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said the status of Fenerbahce, which finished second in May to qualify for this season's competition, could still change. UEFA disciplinary inspectors are studying files including Turkish Football Federation decisions which cleared the club's entry.
"It's a complicated case and our disciplinary bodies are going through the procedure," Infantino said after the draw. "It's a big dossier. It's literally thousands of pages of work."
Meanwhile, Inter Milan will make its Europa League debut with a home leg first against Hajduk Split of Croatia or Skonto of Latvia in the third qualifying round. Inter dropped into UEFA's second-tier competition this season after seven straight years in the Champions League, which it won in 2010.
Liverpool, the 2005 Champions League winner, will travel first to face Renova of Macedonia or Gomel of Belarus. Athletic Bilbao, runner-up last season, is at home first against Croatia's Slaven Koprivnica or Northern Ireland's Portadown.
First-leg matches will be played on August 2. Return matches are on August 9.
Fenerbahce, whose president was convicted of fixing in a criminal trial this month, was included in the draw yesterday. However, UEFA is still examining whether the club meets entry rules.
Clubs must not have been involved in fixing any match since April 2007.
Motherwell, the Scottish league runner-up that gained the spot after indebted Rangers was excluded, will be at home first against Panathinaikos. Two former European champions were in the draw: Celtic, the 1967 winner, is home first against HJK Helsinki or KR Reykjavik. Feyenoord, the 1970 winner, travels first to Dynamo Kiev.
UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said the status of Fenerbahce, which finished second in May to qualify for this season's competition, could still change. UEFA disciplinary inspectors are studying files including Turkish Football Federation decisions which cleared the club's entry.
"It's a complicated case and our disciplinary bodies are going through the procedure," Infantino said after the draw. "It's a big dossier. It's literally thousands of pages of work."
Meanwhile, Inter Milan will make its Europa League debut with a home leg first against Hajduk Split of Croatia or Skonto of Latvia in the third qualifying round. Inter dropped into UEFA's second-tier competition this season after seven straight years in the Champions League, which it won in 2010.
Liverpool, the 2005 Champions League winner, will travel first to face Renova of Macedonia or Gomel of Belarus. Athletic Bilbao, runner-up last season, is at home first against Croatia's Slaven Koprivnica or Northern Ireland's Portadown.
First-leg matches will be played on August 2. Return matches are on August 9.
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