Not Swansea related - but still really got up my nose. I have nothing at all against Celtic may I add! Celtic have been re-instated into the Champions League qualifying stage following the exclusion of Legia Warsaw due to fielding an ineligible player. Full article here; http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/28701951. Apparently the LW player came on in the SECOND LEG, with 2 MINUTES REMAINING!!!! I agree - LW should be punished - fined, maybe even excluded if a very strong stance is to be made - but how on earth can they justify re-instating Celtic!? Celtic were tuned, by a legitimate LW side - the ineligible player made no difference to the result. Celtic should not be re-instated in these circumstances - if FIFA want to play hard ball - exclude LW, and provide a bye for the team that would have drawn them in the next round. Celtic if they were to proceed, and (ludicrously) win the champions league would not be able to lift that trophy legitimately. This stinks of corruption.
Utter bollocks. Celtic have been battered and I hope they draw a much bigger club and get thumped even worse
They have Maribor. If I were Maribor - I would be taking legal advice - they should have a bye if not LW. Celtic would have had to score 6 (yes 6!!!) goals in the last few minutes to go through. Bollox
This is a pathetic decision. You lose 6-1 but win the game. Not football at all. Surely UEFA/FIFA should be checking that players are eligible before the match starts. How do thy find out so quickly afterwards but don't know before the match. And how come the club don't know who's eligible? Are the rules really that complicated? Or was he paid to come on?
At the end of the day UEFA tend to distribute info on who is suspended way prior to these games don't they? The Polish team were amateur in their behaviour. It is convenient that Celtic were awarded a 3-0 victory to go through on away goals but the Polish team shouldn't have broken the rules. They should know who is suspended and who is not
The issue is far less the punishment on LW - but the progression of Celtic when soundly beaten. Its no longer a tournament but a political tool.
seeking some views on the celtic forum here; http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/272444-Sporting-Integrity. Interesting that very few Celtic fans are complaining! Maybe views of feeling you have actually achieved something by winning legitimately is a dying trend.
Rules are rules , if you play a suspended player you forfeit the match 3-0 , do you want them to put in an insertion unless your losing 6-1!!! In 1984 celtic got cheated out of Europe by Rapid Vienna that cost us a European trophy in my mind , being waiting for a decision to go in our favour for 30 years and today is the day
As I posted in the Celtic thread - this is therefore open season for cheating. Next time a team wins leg 1 4-0, and are getting pumped say 5-0 in the return leg - they can chuck on an ineligible player - no matter what the final score - UEFA have to apply their 'consistent rule' and award the team a 3-0 score line - meaning the team fielding the ineligible player goes through (despite having lost the game over two legs). If that's the rule - then has to be applied consistently! You can dress up a turd - buts its still a turd underneath - and this ruling is a turd.
Sorry, yes they have infringed the rules but the score at the time was that Celtic were mullered, and a three minute cameo from the lad never affected the end result.
This is the part of football that is corrupt. Celtic got beaten well and truly for 178 minutes and there was no way celtic could score 6 goals in two minutes, Where is the commonsense approach here. If the polish team wanted to cheat then they would have used the player at the start and not with 2 minutes to go leading by 6 goals. Its bloody obvious it was a mistake and an error of judgement and should have been treated as one, after all it's not as if there was one goal in it and celtic were still in with a chance....
Pretty pathetic all around Celtic losing so badly = pathetic Legia Warsaw not knowing a player was banned = pathetic UEFA giving Celtic the tie = pathetic
where is the commonsense in this. celtic were not beaten but well beaten and nobody now will recognize celtic for the rest of the competition....they are a nonentity now and the sooner they are out the better for fair play....
Do you think UEFA should have just ignored their own rules? Seriously, is that what you are proposing?
So you think they SHOULD have ignored their own rules? Just make things up on the hoof as they see fit. Hmm, I think that may prove to be somewhat problematic in the short and long terms.
Well what's the problem then? Everyone wins apart from Legia. Celtic go though and everyone else can enjoy seeing them getting their (apparent) just desserts against Maribor with a scudding.
