Apoel replace banned Fenerbahce in Europa League draw

Apoel will replace Fenerbahce in this season’s UEFA Europa League group stage draw.

The Turkish club were disqualified by UEFA from European competition for a breach of match-fixing regulations and lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

That move enabled Fenerbahce to take part in a Champions League play-off with Arsenal.

Arsenal easily won the tie 5-0 on aggregate, a result that saw Ersun Yanal’s side drop into the Europa League.

However, CAS dismissed Fenerbahce’s appeal on Wednesday and upheld their two-year ban, a decision that left a space to fill in the Europa League draw.

Cypriot champions Apoel – who lost 3-2 on aggregate in the play-off round to Belgian side Zulte Waregem – were the side drawn out of the hat to replace Fenerbahce in Friday’s draw. All defeated play-off sides were in the draw.