The Supreme Court of Switzerland suspended a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which said Ukraine’s FC Metalist Kharkiv was guilty of match-fixing.
The court suspended the ruling Friday that the Ukranian football club and some of its officials were guilty of match-fixing in relation to a match between FC Karpaty Lviv and FC Metalis Kharkiv played in 2008, the club said on its official website, reports Xinhua. “As a matter of fact, it means that the UEFA has to allow Metalist to continue participating in the Champions League play-offs during pendency of the appeal,” a press release said.
Ukraine’s Metalist, who were competing in the Champions League for the first time and were due to play German side Schalke in a play-off match next week, were kicked out of the competition in 2013-14 over a domestic match-fixing scandal.
In the meantime, UEFA announced that Greek club PAOK Thessaloniki would take Metalist’s place in the Champions League play-offs and face Schalke in a two-legged tie that begins next Wednesday.
Metalist, who eliminated PAOK 3-1 on aggregate in the third qualifying round, challenged UEFA’s verdict with an urgent appeal to the CAS, registered Thursday. The club asked for the sanctions to be frozen while the case is processed.
