Irish club Drogheda barred from Conference League by UEFA for breaking ownership rules
Irish Cup winner Drogheda lost its appeal on Monday against being removed from the Conference League next season for breaking UEFA rules when investors own multiple clubs.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said its judges gave an urgent decision dismissing Drogheda's appeal that was heard on Monday. On Tuesday, UEFA will start making the draws for the qualifying rounds in the third-tier European competition.
Drogheda and Silkeborg of Denmark qualified for the Conference League second preliminary round, but are owned by the Trivela Group from the United States.
UEFA rules to protect sporting integrity do not allow teams from a multi-club network to enter the same competition if one owner has 'decisive influence' over the management of both.
Drogheda apologised to fans in a statement for the situation leading to a decision that caused 'great heartbreak and disbelief' and will cost the club at least hundreds of thousands of euros (dollars) in UEFA prize money.
The American-backed club missed a March 1 deadline set by UEFA to anticipate a pending problem and make changes to the ownership or executive structure.
ALSO READ | Women's Super League in England to expand from 12 to 14 teams
CAS said the three judges agreed UEFA communicated key information which Drogheda 'knew or ought to have known about.' A 2-1 majority of the judges 'rejected (the club's) submissions on alleged unequal treatment by UEFA,' the court said.
Other cases involving Manchester City, Manchester United, AC Milan, Brighton and Aston Villa in the past two years were resolved by one of the ownership stakes being placed into a blind trust for the season. A UEFA expert panel also imposed transfer bans and limited cooperation between the clubs in question.
The UEFA panel is also assessing whether Crystal Palace and Lyon can both enter the next Europa League. Lyon's American owner, John Textor, has a 43% stake in Palace, though with limited decision-making power.
In the latest case, Silkeborg took priority with UEFA to get the Conference League place because it finished higher in the Danish league this season than Drogheda did in the Irish league last year.
Drogheda loses the prize money of 350,000 euros ($406,000) that UEFA pays for playing in the Conference League second qualifying round.
'We believe it is unjust. Rules should protect opportunity, not prevent it,' Drogheda said. 'Nevertheless, we accept responsibility. And we're sorry.'
Related Topics
UEFA Conference League
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Economic Times
17 minutes ago
- Economic Times
FPIs push for extended license tenure and CAS in India
For instance, offshore funds that are not directly registered with their domestic regulators but are deemed to be regulated through their registered advisors/managers, should be allowed exemption from additional disclosure norms." Foreign portfolio investors are requesting Sebi to extend their license tenure to five years and introduce a closing auction session for more accurate closing prices. They also seek exemptions from granular disclosures for large private funds and a review of the threshold for revealing the identities of ultimate beneficial owners. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Mumbai: Several foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have urged the Indian capital market regulator to increase the tenure of their licence from 3 to 5 years, introduce closing auction session (CAS) which exists in some of the leading markets, spare large private funds from granular disclosures, and review the threshold that triggers the rule to reveal the identities of the last natural persons behind the entities that invest in the three years offshore funds have to pay a fee and share necessary details to renew their registration with the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and trade on the Indian stock exchanges. Given the stricter disclosure regime and the requirement to quickly inform the regulator of all material changes, fund managers and administrators feel that the renewal period should be increased to at least 5 funds have also put across their views to bring in CAS, which is held after the regular trading hours, to arrive at more representative closing prices for actively traded securities and thus reduce the tracking error for passive funds whose portfolios mirror the not fool-proof, CAS is generally considered a more accurate mechanism than the volume-weighted average price (VWAP) for calculating the closing prices based on the last 30-minute trades. CAS exists in the US, Japan, Hong Kong, and some of the European markets. Last year, Sebi released a consultation paper on VWAP, an odd trade in the last 30 minutes can cause a mismatch between the performance of a fund (whose net asset value or NAV is calculated based on the trade price) and the market's performance based on the closing price (which may end up higher due to a large single trade). Compared with VWAP, the price at which the maximum number of shares of a scrip is traded during CAS is taken as the closing price. The latter, considered less volatile, is not influenced by some large freak trade shortly before the closing the Sebi disclosure norms, FPIs holding more than 50% of their Indian equity assets under management (AUM) in a single Indian corporate group, or funds that individually, or along with their investor group, hold more than ₹50,000 crore of equity AUM in the Indian markets, are required to disclose the last natural persons of all investors in the funds. However, FPIs such as sovereign wealth funds, public retail funds, and certain pooled investment vehicles among a few others are exempted from additional of the FPIs in the meeting had said that large private funds should also be freed from extra disclosures. According to Rajesh Gandhi, partner at Deloitte India, "An exemption from providing granular details could be considered for non-retail funds which have a wide investor base similar to the erstwhile broad-based fund concept."Sharing the view, Richie Sancheti, founder of the law firm Richie Sancheti Associates, said, "If a fund is under credible regulatory supervision and has a wide investor pool, the risk of it being a front for one entity is low. Sebi's own SOP (standard operating procedure) acknowledges this by exempting certain regulated pooled vehicles. Extending this logic, a well-regulated, broadly held private fund could justifiably be given leeway, too. These funds share many characteristics with exempt public funds (wide investor base, regulated status of the fund manager)."About the other ask from FPIs for a longer validity in renewal cycle, he said the core information that funds must provide at renewal (ownership structure, jurisdiction, etc.,) doesn't typically change drastically in three years-and if it does, regulations require prompt updating of material changes. The savings on regulatory bandwidth and ease-of-doing-business could also help reinforce the image as a well-regulated yet investor-friendly market, said advisors and intermediaries believe that while the regulator would probably be reluctant in relaxing the 50% threshold criteria for extra disclosures, allowing a longer renewal cycle could be more feasible. According to Prakhar Dua, principal (funds, asset management and regulatory practice) at IC Universal Legal, "While Sebi's objective to prevent violation of the minimum public shareholding is well appreciated, it should provide some flexibility on the concentration criterion. For instance, offshore funds that are not directly registered with their domestic regulators but are deemed to be regulated through their registered advisors/managers, should be allowed exemption from additional disclosure norms."
Time of India
31 minutes ago
- Time of India
FPIs push for extended license tenure and CAS in India
Mumbai: Several foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have urged the Indian capital market regulator to increase the tenure of their licence from 3 to 5 years, introduce closing auction session (CAS) which exists in some of the leading markets, spare large private funds from granular disclosures, and review the threshold that triggers the rule to reveal the identities of the last natural persons behind the entities that invest in the funds. Disclosure Regime by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Access all TV channels anywhere, anytime Techno Mag Learn More Undo Every three years offshore funds have to pay a fee and share necessary details to renew their registration with the Securities & Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and trade on the Indian stock exchanges. Given the stricter disclosure regime and the requirement to quickly inform the regulator of all material changes, fund managers and administrators feel that the renewal period should be increased to at least 5 years. The funds have also put across their views to bring in CAS, which is held after the regular trading hours, to arrive at more representative closing prices for actively traded securities and thus reduce the tracking error for passive funds whose portfolios mirror the indices. Although not fool-proof, CAS is generally considered a more accurate mechanism than the volume-weighted average price (VWAP) for calculating the closing prices based on the last 30-minute trades. CAS exists in the US, Japan, Hong Kong, and some of the European markets. Last year, Sebi released a consultation paper on CAS. Live Events In VWAP, an odd trade in the last 30 minutes can cause a mismatch between the performance of a fund (whose net asset value or NAV is calculated based on the trade price) and the market's performance based on the closing price (which may end up higher due to a large single trade). Compared with VWAP, the price at which the maximum number of shares of a scrip is traded during CAS is taken as the closing price. The latter, considered less volatile, is not influenced by some large freak trade shortly before the closing bell. Agencies Under the Sebi disclosure norms, FPIs holding more than 50% of their Indian equity assets under management (AUM) in a single Indian corporate group, or funds that individually, or along with their investor group, hold more than ₹50,000 crore of equity AUM in the Indian markets, are required to disclose the last natural persons of all investors in the funds. However, FPIs such as sovereign wealth funds, public retail funds, and certain pooled investment vehicles among a few others are exempted from additional disclosures. Some of the FPIs in the meeting had said that large private funds should also be freed from extra disclosures. According to Rajesh Gandhi, partner at Deloitte India, "An exemption from providing granular details could be considered for non-retail funds which have a wide investor base similar to the erstwhile broad-based fund concept." Sharing the view, Richie Sancheti, founder of the law firm Richie Sancheti Associates, said, "If a fund is under credible regulatory supervision and has a wide investor pool, the risk of it being a front for one entity is low. Sebi's own SOP (standard operating procedure) acknowledges this by exempting certain regulated pooled vehicles. Extending this logic, a well-regulated, broadly held private fund could justifiably be given leeway, too. These funds share many characteristics with exempt public funds (wide investor base, regulated status of the fund manager)." Other Requests About the other ask from FPIs for a longer validity in renewal cycle, he said the core information that funds must provide at renewal (ownership structure, jurisdiction, etc.,) doesn't typically change drastically in three years-and if it does, regulations require prompt updating of material changes. The savings on regulatory bandwidth and ease-of-doing-business could also help reinforce the image as a well-regulated yet investor-friendly market, said Sancheti. Fund advisors and intermediaries believe that while the regulator would probably be reluctant in relaxing the 50% threshold criteria for extra disclosures, allowing a longer renewal cycle could be more feasible. According to Prakhar Dua, principal (funds, asset management and regulatory practice) at IC Universal Legal, "While Sebi's objective to prevent violation of the minimum public shareholding is well appreciated, it should provide some flexibility on the concentration criterion. For instance, offshore funds that are not directly registered with their domestic regulators but are deemed to be regulated through their registered advisors/managers, should be allowed exemption from additional disclosure norms."
India Today
an hour ago
- India Today
US deploys more defensive assets to Middle East amid Israel-Iran conflict
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced on Monday the deployment of additional American defensive capabilities to the Middle East to protect US forces and assets in the region as the Israel-Iran conflict escalates."Protecting US forces is our top priority, and these deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region," Hegseth said in a statement posted on the social media platform he did not specify the nature of the deployments, US officials confirmed that several key naval and air force assets have been repositioned to respond to the escalating security situation. AirNav Systems, a flight tracking website, said more than 31 US Air Force refuelling aircraft -- primarily KC-135s and KC-46s -- left the United States on Sunday, heading east. The US officials declined to comment on the number of aircraft, Reuters reported."The sudden eastward deployment of over two dozen US Air Force tankers is not business as usual. It's a clear signal of strategic readiness," said Eric Schouten at Dyami Security Intelligence."Whether it's about supporting Israel, preparing for long-range operations, logistics is key, this move shows the US is positioning itself for rapid escalation if tensions with Iran spill over."advertisementAirNav systems said US military flights had landed in Europe, including at Ramstein Air Base in Germany and airports in the United Kingdom, Estonia, and United States already has a sizeable force in the Middle East, with nearly 40,000 troops in the region, including air defence systems, fighter aircraft and warships that can help bring down the weekend, two US Navy destroyers -- the USS The Sullivans and the USS Arleigh Burke -- successfully intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles, according to a US defence official who spoke on condition of Sullivans and the USS Thomas Hudner are currently in the Mediterranean, while the Arleigh Burke has moved away from the area. The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier is in the Arabian Sea with the four warships in its strike group. They are not participating in the defence of USS Nimitz has been long scheduled to take over for the Carl Vinson and is heading west from the Indo-Pacific the US Air Force has moved refuelling tanker aircraft to the Middle East - critical support assets for extended air operations including evacuations and potential fighter jet strategic movements give President Donald Trump a wider range of military options amid ongoing missile exchanges between Israel and Iran. However, Trump declined to elaborate on what might prompt direct US military don't want to talk about that" Trump said during a meeting with the Canadian prime minister at the G7 summit. "They should talk, and they should talk immediately," he said, urging Iran to return to negotiations over its nuclear Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, appeared to make a veiled outreach to the US to step in and negotiate an end to dayslong hostilities between Israel and a post on X, Araghchi wrote that if Trump is "genuine about diplomacy and interested in stopping this war, next steps are consequential."With inputs from Agencies
