Spurs' Uefa Cup bye confirmed
Spurs are through without playing
Also In The News
|
Queens Park Rangers chairman Gianni Paladini has promised to bring swift punishment against the club's players who were at the heart of a mass brawl that forced a friendly against China's under-23s to be abandoned. |  |
Friday, 09, Feb 2007 10:36
Tottenham Hotspur have been confirmed as the first club into the last 16 of the Uefa Cup after Feyenoord failed in their appeal against expulsion from the competition.
The Dutch club took their case to the court of arbitration for sport (CAS) after they were initially thrown out of European competition for crowd trouble in their group match against Nancy.
Uefa's decision to exclude Feyenoord and impose a fine of 100,000 Swiss francs (£41,000) on the club has been upheld in full by CAS, rejecting the Rotterdam club's appeal filed on January 26th.
The two teams were due to face each other in the first knockout round, with the first leg being played next Wednesday and the second leg scheduled for the following week.
Spurs are reportedly considering legal action for the loss of revenue caused by the cancellation of the two games, although boss Martin Jol said there will be no argument from the north London club over the easy progression to the next round.
"The decision allows us more time to work on the training ground," he said.
"We've played a tremendous amount of games in all competitions in the last three months so it's an advantage for us to have a little rest and spend some quality time on the training pitch."
The English Premiership has two other participants remaining in the competition in addition to Tottenham - Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United.
The Ewood Park club play Spurs' group opponents Bayer Leverkusen, while Newcastle have been drawn against Belgian side Zulte-Waregem. Glasgow Rangers make up the remaining British contingent in the tournament - they play Israeli team Hapoel Tel-Aviv.