Porto excluded from next seasons CL - merged

[DazzlaJ]

according to the BBC, more soon

Edited June 4, 2008 by Macca

[theredfella]

Bet Blatter won't be bleating about this.....

 

 

Milan Set To Be Handed Champions League Place

 

Milan are on the verge of being handed a place in next season’s Champions League as a replacement for Bulgarian side CSKA Sofia.

 

Carlo Ancelotti’s men, who have been the dominant side in the competition over the past six years, winning two editions, and reaching a final, semi-final and quarter-final, were gearing themselves to play in the UEFA Cup in 2008/09.

 

However the Diavoli could now be on the verge of being granted a sensational back-door entry back into the Champions League. Bulgarian champions CSKA Sofia could be expelled from the competition due to financial problems,

 

CSKA have been denied a license to play in the Bulgarian league, and the Bulgarian FA (BFU) has now demanded that they be expelled from Europe too.

 

The normal procedure is that the BFU send the runner-up Levski Sofia to the CL instead, however it is reported that instead of this, the highest UEFA ranked team not already in the competition will be the replacement, and this is Milan.

 

The Rossoneri would enter at the second preliminary round, and it would mean that Italy would have five teams in the Champions League, the others being Inter, Roma, Juventus and Fiorentina.

 

 

You can smell the corruption from here.....

[Ronnie Whelan]

A f***ing disgrace if Milan make it in at the expense Levski.

[Neil]

Porto have been booted out as well.

[Boca]

They won't need to now. Porto have been thrown out for match fixing and Milan can slot right into their place.

 

Oh the irony.

[Bailo]

They won't need to now. Porto have been thrown out for match fixing and Milan can slot right into their place.

 

Oh the irony.

Carry on like this and the blueschite will be in as well.

[deacon]

I'm not sure goal.com are the authority on this. Surely the next highest side from that league replace Porto and CSKA Sofia? Otherwise, Portugal/Bulgaria are not represented by the correct amount of teams, thus punishing the whole country as opposed to the offending side.

[Guest Prongsy]

 

f***ing hell, that's a turn up for the books.

 

Love this type of comedy corruption.

[ManxRed]

I'm not sure goal.com are the authority on this. Surely the next highest side from that league replace Porto and CSKA Sofia? Otherwise, Portugal/Bulgaria are not represented by the correct amount of teams, thus punishing the whole country as opposed to the offending side.

 

That's WAY too logical and above board!!

 

Have you never seen any episodes of the Sopranos?

[Hassony]

Its wierd that when we won it in 05 we had to battle for months before they accepted that 5 teams from the same country can come in, and now milan are let in like this!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Why not invite the teams behind CSKA and Porto get in, didn't Platini want more teams from the smaller nations?

 

and FWIW its nothing to do with Blatter

[Bailo]

and FWIW its nothing to do with Blatter

We can expect a press briefing in 10mins then.

[Paddy 66]

For this to happen, UEFA would have to change the rules of entry to the competition, I just can't see it happening. The maximum number of clubs a country can have in the Champions league is four. Plus it clearly states in the regulations, if a side that has qualified cannot compete then the next highest placed side from that country is admitted in their place.

 

Have a feeling its an internet story that is based on nothing more than a guess by a journo, what a surprise.

[Hassony]

For this to happen, UEFA would have to change the rules of entry to the competition, I just can't see it happening. The maximum number of clubs a country can have in the Champions league is four. Plus it clearly states in the regulations, if a side that has qualified cannot compete then the next highest placed side from that country is admitted in their place.

 

Have a feeling its an internet story that is based on nothing more than a guess by a journo, what a surprise.

 

Seems like it

 

If Milan will be let in I will go and put £50 on them to win the cup

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

if this happens, we may as well give up following footy as you'll never be able to trust that the game isn't completely rigged

[Benitez]

So the year they won it with Maurenho in charge eh, ha!

 

ere

 

Porto lose Champions League place

 

Portuguese champions Porto have been excluded from next season's Champions League over alleged bribery of referees in the 2003/04 season.

 

The allegations relate to Porto's 2-0 win against Estrela da Amadora and their 0-0 draw with Beira Mar.

 

Porto won their domestic title and the Champions League in 2003/04 under their former coach Jose Mourinho, who has not been mentioned in any allegations.

 

The club has already confirmed it will appeal against Uefa's decision.

 

Porto won their domestic title in 2004 by eight points from runners-up Benfica.

 

Last month, they were found guilty by the Portuguese league of fixing the two league matches in question.

 

As a result Porto were docked six points, but they decided not to appeal against that decision on the grounds the club had a substantial lead in the league.

 

The punishment did not affect final standings as Porto still won last season's title for the third time in a row, 14 points ahead of Sporting Lisbon.

 

However, the club's president Jorge Pinto da Costa has appealed against a two-year suspension and he will go to trial in a civil lawsuit by Porto prosecutors.

 

Boavista were relegated to the second division for their part in the match-fixing.

 

The affair, which came to light in April 2004, also resulted in five referees being suspended for periods between two-and-a-half and six years.

 

The referees were found guilty of accepting the offer of prostitutes after matches, while in once case an official received 2,500 Euros prior to a match.

[Bailo]

The allegations relate to Porto's 2-0 win against Estrela da Amadora and their 0-0 draw with Beira Mar.

If you're going to match fix, at least do it well!

[Ronnie Whelan]

The referees were found guilty of accepting the offer of prostitutes after matches, while in once case an official received 2,500 Euros prior to a match.

 

 

The term 'blowing a match' takes on a whole new meaning.

[PhilM]

So wait, a slur on Mourinho's career on the day after he gets made Inter manager and Milan could potentially get back into the Champions League? Did Berlusconi's new cheque book arrive in the morning post or something?

[Old red eyes]

For this to happen, UEFA would have to change the rules of entry to the competition, I just can't see it happening. The maximum number of clubs a country can have in the Champions league is four. Plus it clearly states in the regulations, if a side that has qualified cannot compete then the next highest placed side from that country is admitted in their place.

 

Have a feeling its an internet story that is based on nothing more than a guess by a journo, what a surprise.

 

Yep. They changed the rules for us as we were the current holders but said no country would be allowed 5 teams again. If the holders don't qualify as of right then they take the 4th spot away from the team who obviously qualified through getting 4th. If Milan were to be given a spot then Italy would have 5 teams involved which would go against Uefa's own rules and regulations. Mind you, Uefa change the rules to suit their pockets. Plus Platini is a c***.

[ManxRed]

And what's this with them entering at the 2nd qualification stage? We had to go through all three. This story doesn't stack up really, does it?

[ExCorkExile]

I'm not sure goal.com are the authority on this. Surely the next highest side from that league replace Porto and CSKA Sofia? Otherwise, Portugal/Bulgaria are not represented by the correct amount of teams, thus punishing the whole country as opposed to the offending side.

 

 

There was a similar situation with the League of Ireland last year when Shels went bust having qualified for the CL. Derry got in instead, not the "next highest ranked club" in Europe.

I'd imagine UEFA would need to change their rules for Milan to get the place of either Porto or Milan

[Boca]

Were Porto going straight into the group stages? If so, is there not a possiblity of us (as official number 1 ranked team in Europe) replacing them?

[wacko]

There was a similar situation with the League of Ireland last year when Shels went bust having qualified for the CL. Derry got in instead, not the "next highest ranked club" in Europe.

I'd imagine UEFA would need to change their rules for Milan to get the place of either Porto or Milan

I'm not sure the regulations cover such situations, there's just precedent. It allows them to screw over the little clubs when the very big clubs need a helping hand.

 

Note, they didn't feel the need to bump Bayern into the CL last season at Derry's expense. I guess Beckenbauer's only the Kaiser, not the Prime Minister.

 

Sickening nepotism.

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

this hasn't been confirmed anyway has it? I've not read one report saying Milan are getting in & the commentators yesterday - incl Andy Gray - were talking about Gattuso & how Milan failed to qualify

[Bologna]

There's nothing in the Italian media about Milan being in with a shout for CL footy next season. If there was a case for this it would be all over the press here.