What is the story behind Sion being kicked out of Uefa - there are only vague descriptions of "transfer irregularities" involving FIVE players! Apparently its a very technical thing....

Seems strange to me that a SWISS side would break regulations (Celtic fans are happy though!)


Anybody know the whole story in simple terms?

Sion are run by a madman. Not quite as mad a madman as the one who got to run Xamax recently, but still quite mad. Following transfer irregularities, FIFA issued a transfer ban, which was ignored by FC Sion (alleging that the professional team is run by a Plc, not by the club). So FIFA banned them. Sion went to the civil court, resulting in another FIFA ban.

Full explanation here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2...pa-league-sion

Constantin president of FC Sion is a crook....mafia-like kind of attitude.

I love EF

It will be very interesting who will emerge as the winner of this conflict. As mentioned above, Sion turned to the local court after 5 of their players were barred from taking part in the competition. Sion was than awarded a temporary injunction by the court allowing them to line up the players. Follwing this ruling, Sion fielded their players in the championships with the consent of the Swiss Football Federation.

The Swiss Football Federation was between a rock and a hard place. They had to decide whether to abide by the court's decision or to enforce the ban pronounced by Fifa / Uefa who threatened to exclude all the Swiss teams and the national team from competition. The Swiss Federation finally accepted the injunction after a huge row between the president and other members.

So what will prevail. The court's ruling or the Fifa-ban?

Fifa argues that their decisions must be upheld and can't be set aside by a national court. If local jurisdiction could decide which player were eligble to play in the different competions there would be complete chaos.

Sion argues that Fifa / Uefa are mere associations governed by Swiss law and are also subject to Swiss jurisdiction. They believe that Fifa violated Swiss labour law by barring the players from playing. Swiss labour law is to high degree constraining law, meaning it can't be set aside by an association or a company or any other private person. The local court apparentely thought that Sion had good chances of winning the case, which is the reason why it granted them a temporary injunction.

We will see.

That's great....thats exactly what I'd been missing, thanks. What is the stuff about "two transfer windows or several parts" referred to in the Guardian?

Don't ask me about the technical details. Fifa had pronounced a transfer ban against Sion for taking on a player who was under contract for another club. Sion was of the opinion that the ban pronounced by Fifa had expired and they had right to buy new players during the the last transfer window. Fifa, however, thought that the ban was still running preventing Sion from contracting new players.

Well well. This is interesting. And Bellend Blatter thought that England was the problem... Poetic justice that a Swiss court/legal issue could be the start of FIFA falling apart...

Continued interesting developments.....can any lawyers out there explain how UEFA can overrule a domestic court judgement? Surely when you agree to play under UEFA rules, you don't forego legal protection?

On the contrary, that's what FIFA think is the case. It's just that for most people, the Swiss courts are far far away. For Sion however, they're just around the corner. Stay tuned.

It's risky. If the Swiss courts get too involved, there's potential that the Swiss FA be suspended from FIFA from all international/european competitions.

They (Platini, other members on the UEFA board) commit a criminal offence if they defy an injunction issued by a Swiss court (Art. 192 of the Swiss Crimal Code/ Contempt of official orders). But they are only liable to a fine, not a prison sentence.

Uefa also exposes itself to claims of damages amounting to millions of Swiss Francs, but it seems they have so much money they don't care.

Finally, Uefa and Fifa risk losing their tax privilges if they continue to act in defiance of Swiss law. As there are federal elections coming up this automn, I wouldn't be suprised if a political party - with the intent of heightening its political profile - were to introduce a political initiative demanding an end of these special treatments in favour of Fifa / Uefa.

FIFA/UEFA will not listen to a legal court on a matter of competition rules, as this is.

That's the end of the story really. The Swiss court has no right or place to go against UEFA/FIFA judgement on this matter.

Pursuing it will only drag the Swiss FA into the problem, and possibly result in their complete exclusion from any and all club and national competitions.

That's not what happened after the ECJ's "Bosman" case.

That was a matter of working conditions (human rights). This is not, this is a matter of breaking competition rules.

Both FIFA and UEFA are based in Switzerland.
I think a Swiss court probably has a lot to say about it.

Yes...but I believe they also have formal arrangements that exclude them from quite a lot of Swiss law (as was uncovered when the FIFA bribary allogations surfaced).

No, they don't.

FIFA and EUFA are set up in a way that gives them full rights to govern the rules of their own competitions. They are in no way liable to a court judgement over disqualification of a team from one of their own competitions, nor for the banning of a football player.

Their usual reaction to a country's court getting involved in something is to send their FA a very strong warning that if any further interference is supported by a government then the FA of said country will be excluded until any and all influence has been ceased.

The Lawn Tennis Association is based on London, but the English court has no power over Tennis rules. It's the same thing.

Sion aren't challenging the rules of association football. They are challenging the decision to exclude them from the competition altogether. FIFA and UEFA are set up as an association under Swiss law, and they are subject to Swiss law just like other associations are. You may imagine S. Blatter stroking a white cat in his lair high above Zurich while feeding FIFA moles to the sharks in the pool underneath his office, but unlike the usual James Bond villain, he is not operating in a legal vacuum.

BTW in the bribery case, the Swiss court did not decide it didn't have jurisdiction. It closed the case (and sealed the papers) after a hefty fine had been paid.