Separate Disciplinary Procedure
The Spanish first division club CA Osasuna can take part in the Conference League next season. In an appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport CAS, the European Football Union UEFA has withdrawn the exclusion of the club from the smallest European competition because of match-fixing from 2014, the club from the northern Spanish city of Pamplona announced on Tuesday. In the evening, UEFA confirmed the closure of the CAS procedure and the Spanish club’s right to start.
The background to the dispute, which was settled after two months, was one of the most sensational manipulation affairs in Spanish football. Osasuna representatives are said to have transferred money to two Real Betis Sevilla pros in the relegation battle so that they could make an extra effort against Osasuna rivals Real Valladolid on the penultimate matchday of the 2013/14 season. Three years ago, a court sentenced several professionals, officials and entrepreneurs to prison terms, some of them long. These were the first prison sentences for manipulation in Spanish football.
CA Osasuna had already pointed out in a first objection, which UEFA had rejected, that the Spanish judiciary had described the club as a “victim” of the machinations of a few officials in the criminal proceedings in spring 2020. UEFA has now accepted the club’s position and new evidence, it said. The governing body said separate disciplinary proceedings had been launched because the club had complained to a court in Pamplona. The club from the Navarra region qualified for the Conference League for the first time as they were seventh in the table last LaLiga season.
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