La Liga side Málaga "will not be able to take a place in next season's Europa League after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected" the club's appeal against a UEFA ban from continental competition, according to REUTERS. UEFA, "which is getting tough on teams that live beyond their means," initially banned Málaga for two years in December because of overdue payments to rival clubs and Spanish tax authorities. That was later reduced to a year after the club "regularised its overdue payables" by a March 31 deadline and appealed to CAS asking for the UEFA decision to be "annulled or replaced with less severe sanctions." CAS announced Tuesday it had rejected the appeal and ruled Málaga will also have to pay the original fine of €300,000 ($398,000). Málaga's Europa League berth will "now be taken by Rayo Vallecano" (REUTERS, 6/11).
MÁLAGA OUTRAGED: REUTERS' Iain Rogers reported the club "expressed outrage and cast themselves as 'sacrificial lambs' after their appeal against a UEFA ban from continental competition" was rejected. Málaga Dir General Vicente Casado said that the club's finances "were in much better shape than some other Spanish clubs and he feared others may fall afoul of UEFA rules." Casado added that "the CAS decision will not affect the Málaga project and there will be some important announcements about the future later this week." Casado: "They wanted a scapegoat, a sacrificial lamb, and they found it, I can't see it any other way. We cannot lose our heads in the heat of the moment but it seems this decision was not based in law but was political" (REUTERS, 6/11).
