A Swiss court on Friday stepped into the Europa League row between Celtic and FC Sion by claiming it would refuse to legally recognise results from the Europa League Group I until the Swiss club was reinstated.
FC Sion initially qualified for Europe’s second tier competition after beating Celtic 3-1 on aggregate in the play-offs but the Swiss were thrown out for fielding ineligible players.
A Swiss regional court ordered Sion to be reinstated, however UEFA ruled against the decision.
In the end, Scottish side Celtic played their opening match of the tournament Thursday, when they were outclassed 2-0 by Atletico in Madrid.
Sion, who had also taken their case against UEFA to Bern demanding the Swiss finance minister to withdraw tax breaks to Europe’s football governing body, launched its latest appeal, to the civil court of the Vaud canton, on Friday.
“Faced with UEFA’s refusal to heed an injunction handed down by the Swiss civil court, which on September 13 ordered the reinstatement of FC Sion to Group I of the Europa League, the civil court of the Vaud canton has decreed that no results or standings from Group I can be valid,” FC Sion said in a statement.
A UEFA statement said: “UEFA has no commment to make. We have asked our legal experts to examine what exactly the Swiss court is trying to say.”
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