UEFA boot Tottenham out of Europa Conference League

UEFA boot Tottenham out of Europa Conference League

In a sensational turn of events today, Monday, December 20, football’s governing body in Europe, UEFA, has eliminated Tottenham Hotspur from the Europa Conference League. This comes as the result of their having ‘forfeited’ their recent clash with Ligue 1 club, Rennes.

After an outbreak of Covid had decimated their squad – losing nine of their first-team, along with coaching staff, and even the under-23 squad – Spurs had no option but to pull the match, after being left short of players.

Club officials had hoped that a compromise could be found that would allow them to play the match at a renewed date. But, it was not to be. UEFA handed the French team a 3-0 default win, and Dutch club, Vitesse, will replace Tottenham in the next round.

Club officials from Rennes were understandably upset at the cancellation, which occurred after they had travelled from France to London.

A statement from UEFA read, “Following several positive cases of Covid-19 that were identified from players and staff of Tottenham Hotspur FC, the 2021/22 UEFA Europa Conference League group stage match between Tottenham Hotspur FC and Stade Rennais FC – scheduled to be played on 9 December 2021 in London, United Kingdom – could not be played”.

It continued, “The matter was submitted to the UEFA Control, Ethics, and Disciplinary Body, for a decision to be taken in accordance with Annex J of the Regulations of the UEFA Europa Conference League (2021/22 Season). Based on Article 30 (4) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations, and given the urgent circumstances of the matter, the ad-hoc chairman of the Control, Ethics, and Disciplinary Body referred the case to the Appeals Body”.

Adding, “The Chairman of the UEFA Appeals Body took the following decision: To declare the 2021/22 UEFA Europa Conference League group stage match between Tottenham Hotspur FC, and Stade Rennais FC, that was initially scheduled to be played on 9 December 2021, as forfeited by Tottenham Hotspur FC”.

Before concluding, “Who is therefore deemed to have lost the match 0-3 in accordance with Annex J.3.1 to the Regulations of the UEFA Europa Conference League (2021/22 Season)”.

Tottenham responded with their own statement shortly after, “We are disappointed by the ruling of the UEFA Appeals Body, and the refusal to allow more time for the match to be rescheduled. We have to accept this ruling, however, and our focus now turns to the competitions we remain in”, as reported by thesun.co.uk.

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