4 Clubs That Were Banned by UEFA From Competing in Champions League & Why
Playing in the Champions League is every footballer’s dream: it’s the pinnacle of club football and the World Cup is the only competition capable of matching its status – but there are four clubs, over the years, that have been banned from competing.
It’s the premier competition on the European stage – with the Europa League and Europa Conference League present for those unable to rub shoulders with the continent’s elite. Think Real Madrid, Barcelona and, at times, Manchester United.
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It’s common knowledge that Los Blancos, who play their domestic football in La Liga, are the record winners of the competition; AC Milan (seven) are second yet far behind; Liverpool and Bayern Munich both boast six apiece.
Four Teams That Have Been Banned from Champions League
One side were struck with an eight-year ban from Europe’s top table
Though, while there have been a grand total of 22 teams across Europe that have got their hands on the big-eared trophy, there are a few that had that chance taking away from them – albeit on a temporary basis, this can be harmful to many clubs.
Per FourFourTwo, there have been (at least) four clubs that have, over the years, for one reason or another, been banned from playing in the Champions League for varying lengths of time.
One of the biggest names in Turkish football, Besiktas were struck with a one-year ban – after a failed appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport – for being allegedly involved in domestic match-fixing. They were replaced by Norwegian side Tromso. Even worse, that’s the team they had beaten to secure passage into the competition’s knockout round.
GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: No side from Turkey has ever won the Champions League. The nation’s best success in Europe is Galtasaray winning the Europa League in 2000.
Fenerbahce, also from Turkey, received a two-year suspension from UEFA in 2013 after being involved in the same match-fixing scandal as their domestic rivals Besiktas. Their appeal, which allowed them to continue playing in Europe for the time being, was unsuccessful.
Then, there’s Juventus. Before you wonder, the Old Lady’s well-documented Calciopoli scandal back in 2006 is not the cause for their ban. Instead, they found themselves in hot water 17 years later. This time, they were in trouble with UEFA.
Juventus – who have won two Champions League titles, in 1985 and 1996 – were banned for breaching the organisation’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. In fact, the Italian club were banned from all UEFA competitions in the 2023/24 campaign.
The least-known side of the quartet are North Macedonian outfit FK Podeba – and UEFA issued them an eye-catching eight-year ban back in 2009 after it was found they had manipulated the outcome of a match in the form of irregular betting patterns.
Referencing a Champions League qualifier against Armenian side FC Pyunik from five years prior, their ban was lifted in 2017. Club president Aleksandar Zabrcanec and player Nikolce Zdraveski were, however, banned from all football-related activity for life.
