Champions League Draw 2011: Fenerbahce Appeals Exclusion, Why They’ll Be Denied

Fenerbahce Appeals Exclusion from 2011 Champions League

The defending Turkish Champions have appealed their exclusion from the Champions League after the Turkish Football Federation removed them from the competition. Fenerbahce have been replaced with Turkish League runner-up Trabzonspor.

Here is a statement from Fenerbahce via Reuters,

Our club's lawyers applied to the TFF Arbitration Board to suspend and annul the decision to bar it from the UEFA Champions League.

With this decision, the TFF has bowed to the unlawful approach of UEFA

The appeal is common, but they stand no chance of being placed back into the tournament. Fenerbache is surrounded by a match fixing scandal that is still under investigation, but things are not looking good for the club. Reuters provides us with the current status of the team,

More than 30 players and officials have been jailed pending trial, including the Fenerbahce chairman Aziz Yildirim and the coach and deputy chairman of Besiktas, in connection with alleged manipulation in 19 matches.

Neither the TFF nor UEFA are going to stand this sort of manipulation and they should be removed from the tournament.

This sort of scandal has no place in football and neither UEFA nor the TFF will consider reinstating Fenerbahce in this tournament.