Sion’s hopes of regaining their place in the Europa League group phase have been dealt a blow after UEFA’s member associations emphatically threw their support behind the governing body’s decision to expel the Swiss club.
In a statement yesterday, the member nations warned that any club that refused to accept the rules of the football family “should not participate in it”.
Sion have been waging a battle in the Swiss courts in an effort to be reinstated to the competition following their expulsion for fielding ineligible players in their play-off tie against Celtic.
UEFA’s emergency panel on Tuesday dismissed a ruling from the district court in Vaud that Sion should be allowed back in the competition, while last Thursday the same court ruled that the opening round of Europa League Group I fixtures, including a 2-0 defeat for Celtic at Atletico Madrid, were invalid.
Sion’s legal challenge to UEFA’s ruling is being viewed as a threat to the authority of both the European governing body and FIFA, and in a statement entitled ‘Declaration of the 53 UEFA member associations regarding the FC Sion case’, football’s powerbrokers hit back.
“The 53 national associations of UEFA have today unanimously declared their support for UEFA president Michel Platini, the UEFA Executive Committee, the UEFA General Secretary, the UEFA disciplinary bodies and the UEFA administration for their determination to uphold the statutes and regulations of football,” the statement read.
“The European national associations call upon both FIFA and the Swiss FA to urgently take concrete steps to uphold the statutes and regulations of FIFA, as UEFA has done.
“The independent sports justice system is the best guarantor of equality and fairness for all participants in sports. The European National Associations declare that any member which refuses to accept the rules of the competition should not participate in it.”
President Norman Darmanin Demajo and Bjorn Vassallo, the CEO, endorsed the declaration on behalf of the Malta FA.
Sion were thrown out of the tournament on September 2 after being found guilty of naming five ineligible players, with Celtic handed their place in the group stages despite losing their play-off tie 3-1 on aggregate.
After UEFA’s disciplinary body threw out Sion’s appeal last week, the club responded by announcing they would take action against UEFA, looking for initial compensation of over four million euros and potentially tens of millions in the long term.