In one of the more shocking moments leading up to the Champions League group stage draw later this month, Legia Warsaw went from winning a 6-1 two-legged victory over Celtic FC to out of the competition all together. After losing an appeal with UEFA itself last week, Legia lost its final appeal to the court of arbitration for sport (CAS) as well.
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At issue was Legia Warsaw playing Bartosz Bereszynski in the second leg of its third round Champions League qualifier. Bereszynski was ineligible to play due to a three-match suspension and him not being named to the provisional squad for two previous games.
Thus, Bereszynski was ineligible to play at all against Celtic by the rules. It seemed an honest mistake, but a dumb one at that.
By rule, UEFA vacated the 2-0 second-leg victory for Legia and gave Celtic a 3-0 win. That 3-0 score was enough to advance the Glasgow-based club on the away goals rule after a 4-4 tie over the two legs.
Instead of heading to take on Maribor in the final playoff round of the Champions League, Legia will now travel to Kazakhstan to face Aktobe.
In ruling against Legia, the CAS made a very simple statement, via The Daily Mail in the UK:
“The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has denied the urgent request for provisional measures filed by the Legia Warszawa SA in the course of its appeal against the UEFA Appeals Body decision of 13 August 2014.”
In denying the appeal, the CAS made it clear it found no evidence to disagree with the decision that the UEFA Appeals Body made.
This isn’t the first time an issue of fielding an ineligible player has come up in Champions League play though, and in each case UEFA has awarded a 3-0 forfeit win to the opposing team.
Celtic will take on Maribor of Slovenia on Tuesday in the first leg of its final playoff round, while Legia continues to try to legally fight a battle to replace Celtic wherever it ends up in the Champions League.