Kevin LustigAnother club dodges a CL bullet
June 29th 2008 15:26
Steaua's penalty arose from a Romanian league investigation that found that the club's owner, George Becali, attempted to bribe his way to a victory in the club's final match, which would have gifted them the league trophy. Becali was banned from the stadium for two years and the club was docked seven points. The points didn't affect Steaua's domestic rank, however, which qualified them for the Champions League Third Qualifying Round.
Despite Steaua's match-fixing conviction, a clear violation of UEFA rules, the football governing body's Discipline and Control board decided that the proceedings in Romania had not been fully concluded. As a result, according to the board, their hands were tied. Any hearing of Steaua's case will thus have to wait until a later date after the Champions League competition for 2008/09 has already begun.
The decision conjures up memories of UEFA's rulings in both FC Porto's near ban from the competition and in the case of AC Milan in the 2007 edition of the Champions League. In both of these instances, UEFA decided that because of the way the domestic footballing body chose to handle the case, they were powerless to prevent the clubs from participating in European competition.
With the announcement coming just a day before the draw for the preliminary qualifying rounds of the tournament, it seems very likely that this is the decision that will stand. However, Steaua will not be participating in the Champions League until the Third Qualifying Round, meaning that interested clubs and organizations have until August 1 to attempt to have the decision overturned. One notable party that may do so is Rapid Bucharest, the third-placed Romanian club who would enter the Champions League if Steaua were banned.
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