OSASUNA have overturned Uefa’s European ban and will compete in this year’s Europa Conference League.
The LaLiga club were initially kicked out of Europe’s third-tier competition as punishment for a decade-old match-fixing scandal just four weeks before the tournament’s opener.
The issue in question is referred to as ‘Caso-Osasuna’ and it ended with former club president Miguel Archanco and five former club directors being sentenced to prison.
That’s after a court found £557,000 of club funds were directed to pay players from other teams to influence results.
However, the Spanish outfit appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and managed to turn it around.
Uefa found Osasuna were a “victim of the events” that occurred from the 2013/2014 season.
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Jagoba Arrasate’s side will therefore be present on the Europa Conference League play-off draw, which takes place on August 7.
However, Uefa have opened a different disciplinary procedure against the club.
That is because the team went to “ordinary courts” during the ongoing process.
However, that won’t lead to any ban from Europe and Osasuna promised not to appeal the governing body’s decision.
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The Pamplona outfit finished seventh in LaLiga last season after beating Athletic Bilbao to the final qualification spot by two points.
That means they may face Aston Villa in the Europa Conference League this coming season.
Villa also finished seventh in the Premier League after a stunning turnaround under manager Unai Emery.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
