Uefa axes Feyenoord from cup
Friday, 19 Jan 2007 17:59
The Uefa Cup will not be heading to Feyenoord this year
Dutch side Feyenoord have been axed from the Uefa Cup for crowd trouble, European football's governing body has said today.
Uefa ruled that disturbances in the side's group match with AS Nancy in France in November, which needed police to use tear gas to control fans, were serious enough to result in exclusion from the competition.
The ruling could mean that Tottenham Hotspur, who were due to play the Rotterdam club in the first knockout stage on February 15th, could be granted a bye to the next stage.
Feyenoord had originally been fined for their fans' behaviour, as well as being handed a suspended sentence of playing two games behind closed doors.
But Uefa sought to toughen up the punishment and appealed to its own appeals body to obtain today's sanctions, which included a reduction of the initial fine of €123,615 (£81,160) to €61,810 (£40,582).
"The decision follows an appeal made by Uefa in accordance with Article 50 of the Uefa disciplinary regulations, whereby 'the parties directly concerned and Uefa has the power to appeal', after an initial decision by the body of first instance, the Uefa control and disciplinary body, on December 7th last year," a Uefa statement read.
Commenting on today's ruling, Feyenoord manager Onno Jacobs said it was a "huge blow for our club and for everyone who is genuinely well disposed to Feyenoord".
"This punishment has enormous implications for our club," said Jacobs, who also has responsibility for safety at the club.
"Feyenoord will suffer greatly at both the financial and sporting level. We will miss out on match receipts, TV money, any premiums and much more. Our genuine supporters are the victim of the behaviour of a group of people that Feyenoord does not want to have anything to do with."