FC Metalist Kharkiv will continue to defend in the courts the club's position in relation to rulings issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, which declared a Ukrainian league match played between Metalist and Karpaty in 2008 to have been fixed, and rejected the club's appeals against UEFA's decision to bar Metalist from European competitions for the 2013/2014 season, the club's first vice president, Kostiantyn Pyvovarov, has said.
“We will continue to defend our position in the legal field. We don’t understand why they ignored the decision of the Supreme Court of Switzerland, which threw into question the CAS’s initial decision. We expect the consideration of this case, and, quite possibly, we will lodge an appeal at the Supreme Court of Switzerland against today’s [Wednesday’s] decision by CAS,” he told the club’s press service.
As reported, on August 28, the CAS upheld UEFA’s decision to disqualify Metalist Kharkiv from European competitions and rejected the club’s second appeal that was accepted for consideration on August 19.
On August 2, 2013, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne decided to deprive Metalist of bronze medals for the 2007/2008 season of the Ukrainian league for the alleged fixing of a match played between Metalist and Karpaty Lviv in 2008. However, Metalist and Karpaty were not deprived of nine points in the 2011/2012 season, therefore the standings in the Ukrainian Premier League remain unchanged.
The court also banned FC Metalist Sports Director Yevhen Krasnikov from carrying out any football-related activity for five years, and imposed a fine of $10,000.
On August 7, Metalist Kharkiv won through to the Champions League playoffs by beating Greece’s PAOK 3-1 on aggregate (2-0 away and 1-1 at home). Germany’s Schalke became Metalist’s opponent in the Champions League play-offs. The teams were expected to play in Gelsenkirchen on August 21 and in Kharkiv on August 27.
On August 12, Metalist filed an appeal with the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland against the CAS ruling.
On August 14, the UEFA Appeals Body announced its decision to disqualify Metalist Kharkiv from UEFA competitions for the 2013/2014 season following the conclusion of disciplinary proceedings against the Ukrainian club. On the same day, the UEFA Emergency Panel decided to replace Metalist with PAOK FC for the remainder of the 2013/14 club competitions.
On August 16, the Supreme Court of Switzerland suspended a ruling of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, which declared a Ukrainian league match between Metalist Kharkiv and Karpaty Lviv played in 2008 to have been fixed.
On the same day, CAS dismissed Metalist’s petition to suspend the decision of the UEFA Appeals Body on Metalist’s disqualification from European competitions for the current season. UEFA, in turn, welcomed the court’s decision.
At the same time, a statement posted on Metalist’s official Web site noted that the Supreme Court of Switzerland will fully review CAS’s decision on the Metalist-Karpaty match.
