Sion to appeal UEFA decision

Swiss club FC Sion plan to fight UEFA’s decision to hand their place in this season’s Europa League to Celtic.

Sion trumped Celtic 3-1 at home in the second leg of their playoff tie, after holding the Glasgow giants to a 0-0 draw at Parkhead, and the 3-1 aggregate win looked to have secured them a place in the group stages of the tournament.

But UEFA ruled the Swiss outfit had fielded players ruled by FIFA to be ineligible for the tie, and that decision has seen them thrown out of the competition and replaced by Celtic.

Sion’s lawyer, Alexander Zen-Ruffinen, said a Swiss court had cleared the players to take part in the fixture and said they were confident of overturning UEFA’s decision through action in the Swiss judicial system.

“We received the decision of UEFA on Monday morning. Now we must obviously consider the document and then spend hours and hours to find a way to attack it,” Zen-Ruffinen told the Daily Record.

“Ultimately we will succeed because their position is untenable. By rights UEFA has to comply with the laws of its own country.”

“But by refusing to consider the decision of a Swiss judge, they did just the opposite.”

“Specifically, those players entered the civil justice system to qualify, so it is not acceptable.”

“The next few days are vital because the appeal decision must be known by next Monday so we can play the game in good conditions.”

Celtic are due to play their first game in the group stage, against Atletico Madrid in Spain, next Thursday.