The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) last week barred the 2010-11 Super Lig title-winner from competing in this season’s Champions League, with Fenerbahce at the centre of the ongoing investigation. The TFF revealed it was forced to act under threat of UEFA sanctions after European football’s governing body wrote to the TFF requesting that the Istanbul club withdraw from the competition or the federation step in to bar it. Fenerbahce declined to withdraw and on Monday revealed it had appointed two lawyers to conduct the legal process related to its ban.
Fenerbahce has previously revealed that exclusion from the Champions League would cost it Eur25 million in revenue. A club statement read: “One of the legal paths before our club is the option of applying to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Our club is facing an unjust outcome as a result of the mistakes made from a legal point of view.”
The TFF has already turned down Fenerbahce’s appeal against its exclusion and on Saturday also rejected the club’s offer to play in a lower league in a bid to manage the impact caused by the investigation. The TFF has already announced a one-month delay to its domestic season as officials continue to deal with the fallout caused by the scandal.
The 2011-12 Super Lig was scheduled to commence on August 7, but has now been put back to September 9. The scandal has already seen a Turkish court jail over 30 people pending trial on charges of match fixing, including the chairman of Fenerbahce and the coach and deputy chairman of Besiktas.
