UEFA has disqualified Spanish football club Osasuna from the Europa Conference League due to their involvement in match-fixing incidents that occurred approximately a decade ago. The club plans to challenge this decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Osasuna secured a spot in the Conference League playoffs after finishing seventh in La Liga last season. They were set to compete in August for a place in the group stage. Athletic Bilbao, which finished eighth in La Liga, will now take Osasuna's place. A decision from CAS is expected before Athletic Bilbao's first match on August 24th.
The implicated Osasuna officials are no longer associated with the club. The matches under scrutiny took place between 2012 and 2014. UEFA regulations stipulate that any team involved in match manipulation since April 2007 can be barred from their next qualified competition, with the possibility of further sanctions.
This would have been Osasuna's first UEFA competition appearance since reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in the 2006-07 season. Reaching the group stage of the Conference League would have brought the club an estimated six million euros ($6.5 million) in prize money.
Osasuna argues that UEFA's decision unfairly penalizes the club and its current management, who were not involved in the past wrongdoing and have actively condemned it. The club believes it is being punished for the actions of a previous administration.
The Europa Conference League playoff round faces further complications due to ongoing investigations by UEFA. Juventus is currently under investigation for alleged false accounting, which has already led to a 10-point deduction in Serie A, pushing them from Champions League contention to the Conference League. This has resulted in a significant financial loss for the Italian club.
Aston Villa is also under investigation for potential breaches of multi-club ownership rules. The club’s American owners have a stake in Portuguese club Vitoria, which has also qualified for the Conference League. UEFA regulations prohibit two clubs under the same ownership influence from participating in the same competition if their paths could potentially cross.
