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Scottish FA backs Celtic over Sion Europa League case
Page last updated at 16:56 GMT, Monday, 29 August 2011 17:56 UK
Former Hearts defender Jose Goncalves (right) played despite the transfer embargo
Scottish Football Association president Campbell Ogilvie has pledged backing to Celtic in their bid to be reinstated to the Europa League.
Celtic were eliminated by Sion in the play-offs after the Swiss club signed players while under a transfer embargo.
Uefa is due to rule on the case on Tuesday and Ogilvie confirmed Celtic had been in contact about the issue.
"Celtic made contact with the SFA, as any member club would do, and the SFA has been backing Celtic," he said.
The Glasgow outfit hope to take Sion's place in a group that also includes Atletico Madrid, Udinese and Rennes.
Sion are in dispute over a transfer ban imposed by world governing body Fifa after breaching rules over the signing of Egypt goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary three years ago.
The Swiss Cup winners have since been found by Fifa, the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Swiss supreme court to have breached the transfer ban, but the club challenged the decision in a local court.
"The case is being heard this week and, as a governing body, we would always back one of our clubs in one of these cases," said Ogilvie.
"If there is a breach of rules then Uefa will certainly take whatever sanctions necessary, but the SFA would certainly back a member club in this case.
"The nature of football now, with regulations and legalities, means it is quite a complex issue.
"I haven't been involved in the detail of it, but it is quite evident that there are a lot of legal issues being addressed, but these will be heard this week I believe.
"The decision is for Uefa, but if someone has breached regulations and has been proved to have breached regulations then obviously a sanction should be taken, but that's obviously outwith our remit."
El-Hadary was signed by Sion in February 2008, but his former club, Al Ahly, maintained he was not in a position to leave them.
The player then sought to terminate his contract in line with Article 17 of Fifa's transfer regulations, which allows players to cancel their contracts after a "protected period", which resulted in a transfer embargo imposed on Sion by Fifa.
That was successfully challenged in the Swiss civil courts, which ruled that the players can play for the club despite Fifa statutes preventing football disputes being remedied in the courts.
In all, six players were signed while the ban was in place and four featured in one or both of the Europa League play-off ties against Celtic.
A spokesman for Uefa said the time of Tuesday's meeting has not been confirmed.
However, even if the ruling does take place, it likely to be next week at least before the issue is finally resolved, although, with the group games set to start on 15 September, there is an obvious rush to reach a decision.
"The first stage is the Uefa control and disciplinary body," said the spokesman. "After that, there is the ability to appeal the decision and a club is given three days to do that from the time they get the full written submission of the decision.
"The last stage is CAS and a date would have to be set for that. But it is a complex case."
Bron: BBC Sport
Voor degenen onder ons die geen Engels verstaan: FC Sion heeft, ondanks een door de FIFA opgelegd transferverbod, maar liefst 6 spelers aangetrokken waarvan er 4 mee hebben gespeeld in de (gewonnen) play-offs tegen Celtic.
De FIFA neemt deze week een besluit of FC Sion uit de Europa League wordt gezet en vervangen door Celtic.
Page last updated at 16:56 GMT, Monday, 29 August 2011 17:56 UK
Former Hearts defender Jose Goncalves (right) played despite the transfer embargo
Scottish Football Association president Campbell Ogilvie has pledged backing to Celtic in their bid to be reinstated to the Europa League.
Celtic were eliminated by Sion in the play-offs after the Swiss club signed players while under a transfer embargo.
Uefa is due to rule on the case on Tuesday and Ogilvie confirmed Celtic had been in contact about the issue.
"Celtic made contact with the SFA, as any member club would do, and the SFA has been backing Celtic," he said.
The Glasgow outfit hope to take Sion's place in a group that also includes Atletico Madrid, Udinese and Rennes.
Sion are in dispute over a transfer ban imposed by world governing body Fifa after breaching rules over the signing of Egypt goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary three years ago.
The Swiss Cup winners have since been found by Fifa, the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Swiss supreme court to have breached the transfer ban, but the club challenged the decision in a local court.
| Citaat: |
| If there is a breach of rules then Uefa will certainly take whatever sanctions necessary, but the SFA would certainly back a member club in this case
Campbell Ogilvie Scottish FA president |
"The case is being heard this week and, as a governing body, we would always back one of our clubs in one of these cases," said Ogilvie.
"If there is a breach of rules then Uefa will certainly take whatever sanctions necessary, but the SFA would certainly back a member club in this case.
"The nature of football now, with regulations and legalities, means it is quite a complex issue.
"I haven't been involved in the detail of it, but it is quite evident that there are a lot of legal issues being addressed, but these will be heard this week I believe.
"The decision is for Uefa, but if someone has breached regulations and has been proved to have breached regulations then obviously a sanction should be taken, but that's obviously outwith our remit."
El-Hadary was signed by Sion in February 2008, but his former club, Al Ahly, maintained he was not in a position to leave them.
The player then sought to terminate his contract in line with Article 17 of Fifa's transfer regulations, which allows players to cancel their contracts after a "protected period", which resulted in a transfer embargo imposed on Sion by Fifa.
That was successfully challenged in the Swiss civil courts, which ruled that the players can play for the club despite Fifa statutes preventing football disputes being remedied in the courts.
In all, six players were signed while the ban was in place and four featured in one or both of the Europa League play-off ties against Celtic.
A spokesman for Uefa said the time of Tuesday's meeting has not been confirmed.
However, even if the ruling does take place, it likely to be next week at least before the issue is finally resolved, although, with the group games set to start on 15 September, there is an obvious rush to reach a decision.
"The first stage is the Uefa control and disciplinary body," said the spokesman. "After that, there is the ability to appeal the decision and a club is given three days to do that from the time they get the full written submission of the decision.
"The last stage is CAS and a date would have to be set for that. But it is a complex case."
Bron: BBC Sport
Voor degenen onder ons die geen Engels verstaan: FC Sion heeft, ondanks een door de FIFA opgelegd transferverbod, maar liefst 6 spelers aangetrokken waarvan er 4 mee hebben gespeeld in de (gewonnen) play-offs tegen Celtic.
De FIFA neemt deze week een besluit of FC Sion uit de Europa League wordt gezet en vervangen door Celtic.
