UEFA released a statement yesterfday, after several hours of arguing amongst themselves as to who gets to tell the “daft Polish bastard ” , which confirms that Celtic will face Maribor in the play offs for this years UCL group stages.
“The UEFA Appeals Body met yesterday following an appeal by Legia Warszawa against the decision taken by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body on 8 August.
“The appeal lodged by the Polish club was rejected and, therefore, the original decision of the Uefa Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body is confirmed.”
“The Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body had sanctioned Legia for fielding a suspended player (Article 18 of the Regulations of the UEFA Champions League, 2014/15 competition, and Article 21 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations, 2014 edition) in the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round return leg against Celtic FC in Edinburgh on 6 August.
“That match has been declared as a forfeit, meaning Legia lost 3-0.”
Celtics statement was rather more brisk;
“We have been advised by UEFA of the decision of the UEFA Appeals Body to dismiss an appeal by Legia Warsaw. We understand that Legia Warsaw may appeal that decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“For our part, we can only proceed on the basis of UEFA’s decisions and the fixtures announced by them and, therefore, we must now prepare for our match against NK Maribor next week.”
So gi’es peace, wull ye ?
But the Polish chief isn’t going to leave it there. He’s taking it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who he reckons will overturn the decision, and thus risking, like Sion before him, expulsion from all UEFA competitions for all Polish teams , including the national side, which could also help Scotlands chances in Euro 18.
We should offer him the freedom of Glasgow.
You’d think that the rest of Scotland would be pleased with the decision. Should Celtic make the next round, theres a windfall payment for all the other Premier sides, theres a chance to increase the co-efficient so that the Scots sides won’t face an early start in Europe, and of course theres the prestige that goes with it.
Well, you’d think so.
The BBC said, hopefully, noting that CAS are willing to fast track Legias latest appeal;
The Court of Arbitration for Sport could deliver a verdict Legia Warsaw’s bid to reclaim a Champions League from Celtic on Monday.
Yes, but they won’t be able to force UEFA into anything. It’s their ball, and they decide who gets to play with it, which is usually anyone who sticks to their rules.
STVmentioned that;
The Polish club had appealed to Celtic to stand by them in their bid to be reinstated but the Scottish champions had insisted that the matter was for UEFA to decide.
But the Cas general secretary, Matthieu Reeb, obviously delighted at getting a bit of attention for his toothless organisation, said;
“We can organise a fast-track procedure which takes into account the time constraints and whatever kind of decision, be it an order or final award, and we can try to do it within the appropriate time. It’s possible if the parties are prepared to do that. All our councils, parties, all people involved in this matter should be available on short notice.
“If there is an appeal, it should be filed as soon as possible so that the start of the procedure is not delayed. We can also use Saturday and Sunday to work on this case. It is feasible but there is no time to lose.
“It depends on what is requested by Legia. If the request is to declare the Uefa decision illegal or contrary to the rules, it is a legal discussion and we should be able to provide an answer after reviewing not only the Uefa decision and the rules, but also the arguments of the parties. This can be done on a short time frame.”
“If Legia would request CAS to render a decision by way of provisional measures, this could at least give an answer to the case before the start of the competition. But if the parties are also ready we could organise a hearing say for example for Monday so that the case is resolved for all.”
And I’m sure that everyone at Celtic and UEFA is sitting by the phone waiting for his call.
Legia’s owner Dariusz Mioduski said:
“Till the last moment we hoped that the spirit of sport wins, we find the decision extremely unfair. However we expected that decision and were prepared for it. We are to appeal to the Cas promptly.
“We will use the full appeal procedure, in order to get back our result that was fairly gained on the pitch.
If you don’t count using players who were suspended
We will certainly fully subordinate to the final verdict. But I still hope that football will win, as well as the values it is based on: fair-play and respect to the on-the-pitch result.”
Meanwhile, we hear that the Samaritans office in Warsaw was particularly busy yesterday…
Its also worth noting that at any level of football, a suspended player appearing in your team will get you chucked out. There is no way back from that anywhere.
However, Mioduski has heard that theres one organisation who might be able to help him, who have a track record in not bothering with the rules…
Mioduski picked up the phone again….
“Get me Lord Nimmo Smith. And Campbell Ogilvie. ”
Last word on the Legia affair has to go to a poster on a supporters forum for new club Second Rangers, who know all about fielding ineligible players.
Well, when he said he was finished….
And there was valuable and sensible advice from their legal expert;
Unless it’s raining. Or they can’t get a babysitter.
We hear the Samaritans in Glasgow have just taken on extra staff.
Theres more good news for supporters of rule abiding Celtic as the club have announced that the Maribor home leg is a season book game, which is a wonderful gesture by the club. Presumably the printers are on strike and they can’t get the tickets done in time.
Either that or the new Turnstile Tax of £20 is being introduced for the game.
They’ll get the money back one way or another.
Tomorrow sees the title flag being raised before the Dundee Utd game, and none other than Fergus McCann, the man who steered Celtic from the abyss back in the nineties.
He deserves a cheer, and he should get one. Celtic are selling bunnets in order we can throw them in the air as a tribute, and I’ll be doing a tour of charity shops later to get myself one.
Tight fisted ? Absolutely.
Dundee Utd have made a great start to the season. They have already beaten Aberdeen at Pittodrie and Motherwell at Tannadice, and have yet to concede a goal. We wanted competition in the league, and it appears we have it. Its only August and already we face a six pointer, because we will either draw level with them or be six points adrift tomorrow afternoon. Thats if its not a draw, obviously.
Ronny Deila is looking forward to the game, which marks his home debut as manager;
“I’m looking forward to Saturday,” he said. “It’s going to be a huge day for me, to manage Celtic for the first time at Celtic Park.
“I was up in Aberdeen to watch Dundee United win last weekend. They’re a good team. I liked the way they played. They were well-organised and they have some good players so it’s going to be a tough match. They’ve won their first two games so it’s a game between two top teams.
“We’re still not where we want to be. There’s still a long way to go but we’re working hard every day, the players are working hard and I know we’ll get there.
“But you have to win games at the same time and we did that on Wednesday night against St Johnstone.”
“It’s been very hard work,” he admitted, “but when you come into a new club you want to do everything as well as possible. You have to get to know a lot of new players, staff, culture, language.
“There are so many things, and then within four weeks you’re playing European games at the top level so that’s tough, but I get stronger from that.
“It’s quite different from what I’m used to. There are a lot more supporters, a lot more media, and you can feel that.
“But I also have high demands on myself – wanting to win – but I want to win in a certain way and that’s very hard to find the right balance between doing the things you believe in, in the long-term, and in the short term get the results you need to continue in a job.
“Managing a big club compared to a small club, you don’t have time to develop things because you need results at the same time, but the good thing is, I have very good players here.
“We still have a lot of things to improve on and things to do, but the quality of the players is so high that we are winning at the same time, and that’s very good for me and the players, and, of course, the club.”
His honesty is to be appreciated, and when he was faced with questions about Derk Boerrigter and his supposed dive against St. Johnstone, he dealt with that fairly easily as well, playing down any possible controversy;
“I haven’t seen it but as I said yesterday, there will be decisions for and against Celtic and over 38 games the best team will win.
“But I don’t like diving. I don’t want to cheat.
“We have to see the pictures and if he dived too easy, I will have to have a little talk with Derk.
The words “done”, “mate” and “Well ” should be used, in any order he chooses.
“I want fair play but I have to see it before I can say anything.”
He’s learning. Anyone can make mistakes, which he would probably admit to, but he’s learning very quickly.
Charlie Mulgrew backed his manager, and played down reports of a rift in the dressing room.
“These rumours are always going to crop up. You expect that.
“Some people just wait for a small thing to happen and then jump on it as if there is something going on.
“But we have always been positive towards the manager and he the same towards us so we are all working together to move in the right direction.
“Of course it’s going to take time, I mean he’s only been here seven weeks, and it will take time to get his ideas across.
“But we are all working positively towards it and it was a great result the other night beating
St Johnstone 3-0 so things are moving in the right direction.
“Every new manager at every club takes time, especially when you’ve had a long-serving manager for the amount of time Neil Lennon was here.
“You get used to a certain way every day in training. So when someone new comes in it’s about changing your mindset to their ideas. While the principles are basically the same there’s always a few things that are done a little bit differently.
“The biggest change is the style of football he wants us to play. He wants a lot of combinations in the wide areas whereas before we didn’t concentrate on that as much. But it’s good, we are all open to the new ideas and you can see that once we get going it will be good.
“I don’t think people realise how big a club Celtic is until they come here so maybe that’s why it takes players time to settle and maybe managers as well.
“But the manager seems to be doing well and we are all responding well to what he is saying. So we are looking forward to a successful period under him.
“We’re looking forward to getting back to Celtic Park because playing in your natural surroundings and your home pitch has to help a wee bit. I know Murrayfield was called our home tie but it wasn’t really home for us.
He’s got a point. Maribor, having only played at Ibrox before, will be blown away by Celtic Park.
“I’m not making any excuses for the games at Murrayfield because everything was great there. The staff were brilliant and the pitch was great – but there’s nothing like playing at Celtic Park.”
It must have made a difference after all.
I’m looking forward to the game. Despite the early start, it should be a great day out. The Diary might not appear in the morn, and by the time most of you start getting ready to face the day I’ll be hurtling over the border, hopefully in a train.
We’ve decided on this mode of transport because of the early start, and the £22 return price due to early booking, but it already may have backfired because one of us has lost his phone which contains the code for his tickets….
How the hell our club has lasted 14 years is beyond me. He’s the President.
Yesterday we had the famous picture of Tommy Burns kneeling, and le Petit Merde himself running over to him. Johnston , of course, signed for Rangers and Graeme Souness, and even now is not forgiven amongst decent members of society.
Anyone know who this is ? From Lisbon Lion on twitter…
By the way, I don’t know if you noticed, but Manchester Utd have banned tablets and laptops from Old Trafford.
This is not the first time United have stopped electronic items being used at their home ground, referees have been banned from using any kind of timing device since the mid 90s
It’s the wonderful Tommy Burns. Sadly taken far too early and hugely missed.
“If there is an appeal, it should be filed as soon as possible so that the start of the procedure is not delayed. We can also use Saturday and Sunday to work on this case. It is feasible but there is no time to lose.
all the topman fae the referees ludge needs to do is go to the spfl and say if you dont give us more money for our honest mistakes there will be no more honest mistakes that will do the trick ha ha they are so f”cking pathetic
its a young Tam Burns…..with all the dreams he would one day achieve. Gone too soon. continued Celtic dreams Tommy.
we miss you.
Err that should be ” No TIM to lose “. Mwahahahahahahaha!
I remember that Sion were talking about going to CAS.
What exactly happened in that case.
Sion were suspended from Euro comps,and the Swiss national team and Swiss clubs nearly followed suit because Sion involved civil courts etc.Thats fatal as far as UEFA is concerned!
Unless you are in the special branch at the SFA, kh.
H H
Cheers
I read the forum comments, its either a timposter at the wind up or someone who doesnt see the irony!
Land deals, corruption etc -dis you not know the history of the club that died that you sued to support.
My support of Celtic is based on the love of the club ,his support is based on the hatred of Celtic .
That is the fundenental differece.
HAil HAil !
SM
It is the achievement of genius or the accident of the dimwitted when the writer confuses the reader so much he can not distinguish between the genuine and the micky-take. And your concluding statement has been true for as long as I can remember. It is part of their history they most certainly still have.
H H
Apologies for the spelling mistakes !!
Bloody small text box !!!
Celtic fan at it…surely?
Even a Hun couldn’t be that dim…could he?…
That should be used – not sued (I think !)
Time to concentrate on Maribor. Legia who?
Ralph
It is a joy to read a diary that is not born out of a black hole. I guess you are back from depressed anger-land far away in doldrums ocean. It is nice to see you have come round to my way of thinking about Ronny’s potential too 🙂 Stick by me, son, and you will see your way through the darkest days. Get the train to blow its whistle at Carlisle and I will give you a wave from my bed just to cheer you up in the dark.
I was brought up to have a high regard for Polish people. Legia, I am afraid, have somewhat dampened my enthusiasm. It is the shear hypocrisy of the whole affair that gets me. The sinner condemning the the innocent – even if perhaps unethically lucky. The issue has been flogged to death in every communication outlet with our detractors seeping out from every crevice in media bigotland, engulfed in their own desperate detestation of our club. Individual interpretation is the new pleasantry for perverse ignorance and moral rectitude the new platform for warped justification. Even Mr. G. Spiers is struggling to disentangle his verbal spaghetti to justify the Legia case. Instead of a devil’s advocate, his latest renderings look more and more like a whited sepulchre of moral outrage. His argument being that even though Legia broke the rules and Celtic did absolutely nothing wrong, Legia hold the morality card which is the joker in the pack. So, a la Mr. Spiers, rules that have been brokered to protect fair play should be ignored in defence of fair play. The logic is astounding but not surprising.
I used to think “Singing the Blues” was not a bad listen but it is getting somewhat obtuse these days. I really do think that poster should see a shrink or perhaps he should simply shrink as it would be diabolical to ask anyone, no matter how qualified, to listen to those rants. It is truly difficult to believe people like that actually exist unrestrained in the real world. O wait, yes, I do get BBC Scotland. It would be so funny, if it were not so utterly tragic, to see pseudo intellectualism descend into a nadir of abusive bigotry at one uncontrolled swoop of anti-Celtic venom. Sometimes even prayer goes unanswered but, as I have said before, I still have faith though my hope for a change of mindset has faded to a mere comet tail.
I am reluctant to add this for fear it resurrects your demons again, Ralph. But, I really do suspect we might meet more than our match tomorrow. Dundee United had the signs of something last season and the results so far show that that something may have developed into a genuine challenge. However, even with the threat of your unabated anger lurking in the background, I have faith we are on a developing road of progress under Ronny. That being so, we might just have enough by now in our quality tank, to take the spoils. I hope we have as I think you would be a changed man should you be celebrating a convincing win in style tomorrow afternoon instead of using a drubbing as an excuse to get blootered. Monday’s diary will very much depend on whether it is champaign flutes – I know you will not be over enthused by the term but that is what it is called even without the orange – or cheap pints – if such exist now. Either way, I will be reading it with or without my steel helmet. I hope it is without ’cause that heavy metal gives my baldy bits a hard time and I am more of an R & R man.
Smashing nostalgic picture of young Tommy. Somehow you think he is still around the place. Certainly never to be forgotten.
H H
d.utd no contest
The great benefits of hindsight, fredc! And the great joy of success!
H H
how many years of hindsight would you say? when was the league formed I cant remember.
ps. cant say I didnt enjoy your post.
tally ho
Put a wee comment as there may not be a dairy tomorrow as “we’ll be there to give the Bhoys a cheer, when the League flag flies”.
Dundee United will try to spoil the party and have the potential to be a banana skin, they’ve sold a few players but from the first two games it looks like theres still a good level of youth player coming throuh the ranks there.
I always liked Jackie as a player and was disappointed with the way he was treated at the end. I wish him every success as a manager, just not against us. A few folk on here suggested he should have replaced Lenny, maybe one day.
Sometimes we say that some fans embarass the club, with the Green Brigade, songs or whatever annoys folk this week. But the time I was embarassed by other Celtic fans was when Fergus McCann was booed and treated disrespectfully, we’ve all laughed at the rangers the last few years, Fergus McCann stopped this from happening to us and I doubt the farrys and brysons at the SFA would have allowed a Celtic tribute to skip straight into the League. Celtic still existing, the stadium, the very seats we sit in are because of Fergus McCann and while I don’t want everyone to hero-worship him, would it hurt to show him some respect tomorrow?
Did you say Dairy ?
I’ve bought a bunnet!
Its no the same without the spelling mistakes. Can’t wait for the game, wan’t to see Fergus back at Paradise and get a look at Tonev as well as see more improvements in the team and, finally, get three points.
Ma heids shaped like wan.
H H
Come on Ralph. Your milking that one now. Point maid!!
H H
Ralph
Another exceptional pearl gobbled up by the swine. You would have loved my eulogy too.
H H
Found it!
You can take the snorkle off now. Thanks for diving!
H H
I see Boerrigter has been charged with simulation.
I wonder how much of that was stirred up by the Media.
100% possibly, Raymobhoy? Surely not. They don’t have form do they?
H H
The Charge : Simulating a Celtic Player.
Possible Outcome ..Fined 2 Weeks wages and GTF.
Who calls the shots on that? It happens practically in every game played. I thought that if the ref did not see the incident ( not made a decision) only then could they ask for TV evidence. But then it’s the Tic. Hh. As pope John Paul said (in Polish) f-ck em
POINT 1 UEFA HAVE TOLD THE CAS that they won,t agree to a quick hearing so there obviously sticking to there guns
2 the simulation charge WTF is going on is this the new compliance officer(ie hun filth),trying to show he,s in charge
looking at the footage the saints player pushed boerrigter
and he tripped over his own feet
given all the dives we see every year in this bigoted shit hole of a so called country this is bloody ridiculous
JUST VOTE NO
dadhead ifyou vote naw ime voting aye f;;k living where you live coybig
Great performance today, wonder if all the muppets who were saying we would not win the spl after the legia games have changed their tune. Arseholes.
ITS QUITE SIMPLE YOU CHEAT AND BRAKE THE RULES IN ANY COMPETITION YOU ARE OUT IN YOUR ARSE.
its not that simple. Legia fielded an illegible player in one match and as a result had to forfeit that match and only that match 3-0. Had we not scored over there they would still be in. That’s why they are still in the Europa. uefa did exactly what is says in the rules even down to the score line. unfortunately for them 3-0 put them out. These Legia guys are as thick as thick can be.