EUROPA League
NO SYMPATHY FOR MAN CITY OVER BAN, SAYS ARSENE WENGER
Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says he has little sympathy for Manchester City over their ban from European competitions, especially as he regularly lost some of his best players to their wealthy Premier League rivals.
“The rules are what they are and people who don’t respect them… have to be punished,” said Wenger at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Berlin. “If it is proven that this has been done on purpose, you can not let that go unpunished.”
On Friday, Uefa announced City had been banned from continental competition for two seasons for what the body said were “serious” financial fair-play breaches between 2012 and 2016.
City were also fined 30 million euros and are taking the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Since the Sheikh Mansour takeover in 2008, which put the financial might of Abu Dhabi behind them, City have won 10 major trophies – including four Premier League titles.
The 70-year-old Wenger managed the north London side from 1996 until 2018 and saw a steady stream of his best squad members snapped up by City. “They bought all my players,” he joked in Berlin.
During his tenure, Wenger saw individuals like Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Adebayor (both in 2009), Gael Clichy, Samir Nasri (both 2011) and Bacary Sagna (in 2014) leave for the Etihad Stadium.
However, he drew the line at suggestions City should be stripped of some titles as the result of the financial fair-play breaches.
“I don’t know the rules well enough to see what kind of punishment there are when rules have not been respected,” Wenger added.
The Frenchman also criticised the growing gap between Europe’s richest clubs and those financially worse off.
“Historically, the richest clubs always win the trophies,” he added. “This trend has become stronger. The best teams become richer and the difference to the smaller teams has become bigger.”
-AFP
Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv will not accept any away fan tickets for their Europa League match at Aston Villa next month, even if local authorities reverse the decision to ban their supporters, they said on Monday.
The ban followed safety concerns raised by British Police, who cited potential protests outside Villa Park, following demonstrations at Israel’s recent World Cup qualifiers in Oslo and Udine.
“From hard lessons learned we have taken the decision to decline any allocation offered on behalf of away fans and our decision should be understood in that context,” Maccabi said in a statement.
“We hope that circumstances will change and look forward to being able to play in Birmingham in a sporting environment in the near future.”
Aston Villa announced the decision last week, saying they were following instructions from the Safety Advisory Group (SAG), who are responsible for issuing safety certificates for games at Villa Park.
West Midlands Police described the match as high risk, past incidents, including violent confrontations and hate crime offences involving Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters ahead of a November 2024 game in Amsterdam.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar described the announcement as “shameful”.
Villa are third in the Europa League standings while Maccabi Tel Aviv are 30th after two rounds.
-Reuters
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Crystal Palace’s appeal against UEFA’s decision to drop them from the Europa League to the third-tier Conference League was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday.
UEFA demoted Palace while allowing Olympique Lyonnais to play in the Europa League as, at the time of assessment on March 1, the Eagle Football Group were majority owners of Lyon while their chairman, John Textor, owned a controlling stake in Palace.
Nottingham Forest, who finished seventh in the Premier League last season, will replace Palace in the Europa League.
“After considering the evidence, the panel found that John Textor, founder of Eagle Football Holdings, had shares in CPFC and OL and was a board member with decisive influence over both clubs at the time of UEFA’s assessment date,” the CAS said in a statement.
“The panel also dismissed the argument by CPFC that they received unfair treatment in comparison to Nottingham Forest and OL.”
Palace did not respond to a request for comment. Club chairman Steve Parish told reporters on Sunday that if Palace lost the appeal, they would “have to look if there’s any steps after that.”
The club, who qualified for the Europa League as FA Cup winners, appealed against UEFA’s decision last month.
The appeal came days before New York Jets co-owner Robert Wood “Woody” Johnson completed the purchase of Eagle Football Holdings’ stake in Palace.
Textor has also resigned from Lyon’s board of directors with Michele Kang appointed chairwoman and president.
As both Lyon and Palace had qualified for the Europa League, the French club were allowed to keep their place because they had finished higher in their respective league. Lyon finished sixth in Ligue 1 while Palace were 12th in the Premier League.
“Olympique Lyonnais welcomes today’s decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport confirming its participation in the Europa League,” Lyon said in a statement.
Palace, who won the Community Shield on Sunday , beating Liverpool in a penalty shootout, are set to play in the Conference League’s qualifying playoff round later this month.
-Reuters
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UEFA has decided to postpone its assessment of the multi-club ownership case involving Olympique Lyonnais and Crystal Palace until the French club’s relegation has been confirmed, European football’s governing body said on Monday.
The multi-club ownership regulations do not allow clubs under the same ownership compete in the same European competition, and American businessman John Textor holds a stake in both Palace and Lyon.
Palace qualified for the Europa League by winning the FA Cup last season while Lyon reached the competition by finishing sixth in Ligue 1 but have since been relegated to Ligue 2 by French football’s financial watchdog (DNCG).
Lyon are appealing the decision, which came following an audit of the club’s finances, and UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body will now await the outcome of the appeal before making its decision.
UEFA and Lyon reached a settlement agreement over the club’s breach of the financial sustainability requirements, and as part of the settlement, Lyon agreed to their exclusion from European competition should the DNCG confirm their relegation.
League of Ireland club Drogheda United lost an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport earlier this month over their exclusion from the Conference League, after falling foul of the multi-club ownership rules.
-Reuters
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