Fenerbahce kicked out of the Champions League

[quote]Turkey's Football Federation has withdrawn national champions Fenerbahce from the Champions League because of an ongoing match-fixing investigation.

On Thursday the Turkish side were due to join 32 elite European clubs in the draw for the Champions League group stage being held in Monaco at 1645 BST.

Uefa has announced league runners-up Trabzonspor will take their place.

Trabzonspor had already been eliminated from this season's Champions League in the qualifying rounds.

The decision means that their scheduled Europa League qualifier against Athletic Bilbao on Friday has been cancelled, with the Spanish club progressing automatically.

The Fenerbahce decision was taken after the Turkish Football Federation held an extraordinary board meeting on Wednesday attended by Uefa's legal counsel for integrity, Pierre Cornu.

Continue reading the main story The Turkish Football Federation has shown with this decision that it takes its full responsibility in the fight against corruption.
Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino
According to a statement on the TFF website, Uefa wrote to the federation on Tuesday to demand Fenerbahce's withdrawal, threatening wider disciplinary action should they fail to do so.

The letter was forwarded to Fenerbahce, who declined to withdraw, TFF said.

"In the face of this development, on 24 August an extraordinary meeting of the board of directors was held to discuss the threat of the Turkish Football Federation being exposed to severe disciplinary sanctions if Fenerbahce took part in the Uefa Champions League this season, and it was decided to bar them from participating," the statement said.

Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino added: "The panel considered that the Turkish Football Federation took the right decision to protect the game, fully in line with our zero-tolerance policy against match-fixing.

"The Turkish Football Federation has shown with this decision that it takes its full responsibility in the fight against corruption."

Fenerbahce were crowned league champions last term, pipping Trabzonspor to the Super Lig title with a dramatic 4-3 win at Sivasspor on the final day.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/14656932.stm[/url]

Interessting stuff. To be fair I would much perfer Trabzonspor then Fenerbahce in my group if I was a manager, both sets of fans are mental though.

Any thoughts on this considering they have not been found guilty as yet?

seems innocent until proven guilty no longer applies in many situations

Haven't they and Turkish football in general been involved in lots of dodgy things in the past?

But Very interesting that they've been thrown out at this stage of the comp without being found guilty. But if UEFA are taking such a strong stance and sending their Legal Counsel to the Turkish FA meeting then they must think the club is guilty of some serious wrong doing

Still I would not be happen if I was one of their fans. That said worse may be to come for them if they are found guilty.