Malaga have had a second “suspended” one-year ban from European competition overturned, UEFA said yesterday, although the Spanish club still face exclusion from next season’s Europa League should they qualify.

The Costa del Sol club, who reached the quarter-finals of this season’s Champions League, are banned from the next Euro competition they qualify for over the next four seasons due to delays in payments to creditors – a sanction they are appealing against to the CAS.

The punishment, imposed on the Qatar-owned club in December, also threatened Malaga with an additional year ban from Europe unless they proved by March that they had settled outstanding payments to other teams, staff and tax authorities.

The decision by UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) in Nyon said that Malaga had “fulfilled the conditions” imposed and that the second ‘conditional’ year of their punishment would not now apply.

With two games to go in the Spanish season Malaga are in the Europa League qualifying positions but will be barred unless UEFA’s one-year ban is also overturned by CAS.

Yesterday, UEFA’s Club Financial Control Body also said Romania’s Rapid Bucharest had not met the conditions imposed on them and would be excluded from competing in the next UEFA competition they qualified for in the next three seasons. They were also fined €100,000.

The punishment meted out to Malaga was seen as proof that UEFA remain serious about enforcing its Financial Fair Play rules that are being phased in to curb overspending.

UEFA’s rules mean that all clubs will ultimately have to move towards balancing their books or face exclusion from European competition.