Feyenoord appeals UEFA Cup ban

Jan 30, 2007 - 1:13 AM LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Ticker) - Feyenoord appealed its exclusion from the UEFA Cup to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday.

The CAS ruling will be of particular interest to Tottenham, who had been granted a bye into the last 16 of the competition after being matched up against Feyenoord prior to their exclusion.

The Dutch side was initially handed a suspended two-match stadium ban by UEFA's independent disciplinary tribunal after rioting caused their clash against French side Nancy to be held up by 30 minutes.

However, UEFA appealed against the decision as they felt the punishment was not harsh enough. They wanted the match against Spurs to be played behind closed doors, but the UEFA Appeals Board decided to exclude Feyenoord from the competition.

"Feyenoord Rotterdam has filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the decision of the UEFA Appeals Body," the CAS said in a statement. "UEFA has excluded the Dutch club from the UEFA Cup 2006-07 and has fined the club following the incidents which occurred during the UEFA Cup match AS Nancy vs. Feyenoord Rotterdam on November 30, 2006. The Dutch club has requested the annulment of the UEFA decision."

The CAS has indicated that its decision will come within the next two weeks.

"The CAS has proposed to both Feyenoord and UEFA to conduct an expedited procedure in order to render a final decision on 9 February 2007 at the latest," the statement said. "A procedural calendar will be established very shortly. The date of the hearing will be fixed later this week as soon as the three arbitrators constituting the panel have been appointed."