The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeal filed by the Turkish football club Trabzonspor A.S. (Trabzonspor) against the decision issued by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) Adjudicatory Chamber on 3 June 2020 (the Challenged Decision). As a consequence, the Challenged Decision is confirmed and Trabzonspor remains “excluded from participating in one (1) UEFA club competition for which it would otherwise qualify in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons”.
On 5 July 2019, the UEFA CFCB Adjudicatory Chamber determined that Trabzonspor had failed to be break-even compliant as required by a settlement agreement it had entered into on 20 May 2016 and sanctioned the club with a conditional exclusion from participating in one (1) UEFA club competition for which it would otherwise qualify in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 seasons. The sanction would not take effect if the club fulfilled certain conditions, including meeting a target with respect to its financial results for the 2019 financial year. In the Challenged Decision, the CFCB Adjudicatory Chamber determined that Trabzonspor failed to meet the target fixed for the 2019 financial year and imposed the sanction.
On 13 June 2020, Trabzonspor filed an appeal at CAS seeking to overturn such decision. The CAS arbitration was conducted on an expedited basis and the parties were heard by video conference on 16 July 2020.
Having considered the parties’ written submissions and evidence, the Sole Arbitrator in charge of this matter found that Trabzonspor did not meet the required break-even result for the 2019 financial year and dismissed the appeal.
Source: https://www.tas-cas.org/