US-owned Irish soccer club Drogheda barred from Conference League by UEFA ownership rules
Associated Press
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Irish Cup winner Drogheda lost its appeal on Monday against being removed from the Conference League next season for breaking UEFA rules on club ownership.
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 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 management of both.
CAS said the three judges agreed UEFA committed key information to Drogheda and that by a 2-1 majority 'rejected (the club's) submissions on alleged unequal treatment by UEFA.'
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 clubs in question.
The UEFA panel is also assessing if 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 prize money of 350,000 euros ($406,000) that UEFA pays for playing in the Conference League second qualifying round.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer in this topic
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Chelsea win Club World Cup opener against LAFC in front of empty seats
Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez were on target as Chelsea started their Club World Cup campaign with a 2-0 victory over LAFC in front of a stadium which was less than a third full in Atlanta. The players walked out at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which holds a capacity of 71,000, with only 22,137 fans in attendance and the entire upper tier of the arena was completely vacant. Advertisement Chelsea played in front of over 70,000 fans at the same venue against Newcastle in the Premier League's Summer Series just a couple of years ago but deserted seats were the common theme this time as Enzo Maresca's side claimed the first three points of their campaign. The few who turned up saw Neto open Chelsea's account just after the half-hour mark to give the Blues a well-deserved lead heading into the half-time break. Chelsea were made to work hard for their second goal, with £30million summer signing Liam Delap introduced after the break and he supplied fellow substitute Fernandez with the second to seal the victory 11 minutes from time. Advertisement Former Tottenham keeper Hugo Lloris was brought into action early on to deny Nicolas Jackson, who forced a snapshot on target in tight space from inside the area. Fans wait for the beginning of the Club World Cup match between Chelsea and Los Angeles FC (Brynn Anderson/AP) Chelsea dominated possession and were beginning to trap LAFC closer to their own goal. Jackson did well to pick out Noni Madueke who forced another save from Lloris. The Conference League winners broke the deadlock in the 34th minute. Neto broke the offside trap and latched onto Jackson's magnificent pass and the Portugal international cut the ball back in and fired into the bottom corner. LAFC chances were few and far between in the first period but Denis Bouanga's cross caused problems for Robert Sanchez, who flapped at the delivery and sent it behind for a corner. Advertisement The American side did not want to back down to Chelsea though, and substitute David Martinez made an impact off the bench. His curling strike looked to have Sanchez scrambling but former Blues forward Olivier Giroud accidentally got himself in the way of the effort. Chelsea almost doubled their advantage after the interval, Neto's teasing cross found Jackson who headed on target but Timothy Tillman proved to be the saviour on the line to keep the deficit at one. New signing Delap was introduced for his Chelsea debut in the 63rd minute and instantly made an impact. He almost made a second with his dazzling footwork on the byline but his pass into the box was snuffed out. Chelsea continued to probe in search of a two-goal cushion and they found it in the 79th minute – Delap got the assist as he hung a ball into the middle of the box and Fernandez was waiting to tap home.
San Francisco Chronicle
32 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Tiafoe upset by local wild card at Queen's Club
LONDON (AP) — British wild card Dan Evans upset world No. 13 Frances Tiafoe 7-5, 6-2 on Monday for his first win at Queen's Club since 2021. Backhand slices and quick net reflexes underpinned No. 199 Evans' second ever top-20 win on grass. The first was at 2019 Wimbledon. 'I still believed I've got that tennis in me and I still believe I can do good things inside the top 100. But believing it and it happening is a lot different,' Evans said. 'You know how some days you think, 'Are you deluded, are you nuts, have you still got it, still got it in your legs?' Today showed I still have a bit left.' Other first-round winners included fourth-seeded Holger Rune and eighth-seeded Jakub Mensik on his Queen's debut. The 19-year-old Czech hit 20 aces while beating former finalist Cameron Norrie 7-6 (6), 1-6, 6-1. Mensik next faces Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain, a three-set comeback winner over Nuno Borges of Portugal, while Rune lined up Mackenzie McDonald of the U.S., who ousted Gael Monfils of France 6-4, 6-4. The top two seeds are Wimbledon and French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz, and Taylor Fritz, who won Stuttgart on Sunday for his fourth title on grass.
Los Angeles Times
38 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Trump fires Democratic commissioner of independent agency that oversees nuclear safety
WASHINGTON — President Trump has fired a Democratic commissioner for the federal agency that oversees nuclear safety as he continues to assert more control over independent regulatory agencies. Christopher Hanson, a former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said in a statement Monday that Trump terminated his position as NRC commissioner without cause, 'contrary to existing law and longstanding precedent regarding removal of independent agency appointees.' The firing of Hanson comes as Trump seeks to take authority away from the independent safety agency, which has regulated the U.S. nuclear industry for five decades. Trump signed executive orders in May intended to quadruple domestic production of nuclear power within the next 25 years, a goal experts say the United States is highly unlikely to reach. To speed up the development of nuclear power, the orders grant the U.S. Energy secretary authority to approve some advanced reactor designs and projects. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in an emailed statement that 'all organizations are more effective when leaders are rowing in the same direction' and that the Republican president reserves the right to 'remove employees within his own executive branch.' Trump fired two of the three Democratic commissioners at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, an independent federal agency responsible for enforcing federal laws that prohibit discrimination in the workplace. In a similar move, two National Labor Relations Board members were fired. Willie Phillips, a Democratic member and former chairman of the independent Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, stepped down in April, telling reporters that the White House asked him to do so. Trump also signed an executive order to give the White House direct control of independent federal regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission. New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, called Hanson's firing illegal and another attempt by Trump to undermine independent agencies and consolidate power in the White House. 'Congress explicitly created the NRC as an independent agency, insulated from the whims of any president, knowing that was the only way to ensure the health, safety and welfare of the American people,' Pallone said in a statement. Senate Democrats also said Trump overstepped his authority. Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse, Patty Murray and Martin Heinrich said in a joint statement that 'Trump's lawlessness' threatens the commission's ability to ensure that nuclear power plants and nuclear materials are safe and free from political interference. Hanson was nominated to the commission by Trump in 2020. He was appointed chair by former President Biden in January 2021 and served in that role until Trump's inauguration to a second term as president. Trump selected David Wright, a Republican member of the commission, to serve as chair. Hanson continued to serve on the NRC as a commissioner. His term was due to end in 2029. Wright's term expires on June 30. The White House has not said if he will be reappointed. Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, called Hanson a dedicated public servant and a strong supporter of the NRC's public health and safety mission. Firing Hanson is Trump's 'latest outrageous move to undermine the independence and integrity' of the agency that protects the U.S. homeland from nuclear power plant disasters, Lyman said in a statement. The NRC confirmed Hanson's service ended on Friday, bringing the panel to two Democrats and two Republicans. The commission has functioned in the past with fewer than the required five commissioners and will continue to do so, the statement said. McDermott and Daly write for the Associated Press. McDermott reported from Providence, R.I.
