• Champions League

Metalist Kharkiv booted out of Europe

FC Metalist Kharkiv have been disqualified from UEFA competitions for the 2013-14 season following an investigation into match-fixing allegations.

The UEFA Emergency Panel will consider the consequences of the decision later on Wednesday.

Metalist had been drawn to German club FC Schalke 04 in the Champions League qualifiers initially set to take place over the next two weeks. They have now been disqualified from all UEFA competitions for the 2013-14 season by the UEFA Appeals Body.

The club had been found guilty of match fixing in a Ukraine league tie against Karpaty Lwiw during the 2007-08 sesason by the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS). The Metalist sporting director Yevhen Krasnikov, 38, was among the persons sentenced in the trial.

Krasnikov was not allowed to fulfill a task in football for five years, CAS had ruled, and also ordered a €7.500 fine. Krasnikov, however, had still been listed as the club's sporting director on the Metalist website.

"Our lawyers are working intensively on that case. We have to be very careful," Konstantin Pivovaro, the club's vice-president, had told Kicker on Monday.

Metalist had beaten PAOK Saloniki in their last round of Champions League qualifiers and were set to take on FC Schalke 04 in the final round of Champions League qualifiers. They now have the opportunity to appeal the UEFA decision to the CAS, UEFA announced.

"In the meantime, the UEFA Emergency Panel - which is composed of five members of the UEFA Executive Committee - will hold a meeting later today to consider the consequences of the decision on the competition," a UEFA statement read.

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