Sport

UEFA to ban six clubs from Champions League, Europa League

Two Portuguese clubs, FC Porto and Sporting Lisbon, are among eight clubs that have been fined and six threatened with exclusion from European competitions over unpaid debts.

The clubs have been adjudged to have breached UEFA’s Financial Fair Play regulations, due to their their “non-compliance with the ‘no overdue payables’ requirement”.

UEFA’s newly-established ‘First Chamber of Club Financial Control Body’ handed out all the punishments.

The clubs affected are: Astana (Kazakhstan), CFR Cluj (Romania), CSKA Sofia (Bulgaria), Mons Calpe (Gibraltar), Real Betis (Spain) and Clube Desportivo Santa Clara (Portugal).

As well as the fines, six of the teams will be banned from the next European competition they qualify for, if the debts are not settled by January 31, 2022.

Only Astana and CFR Cluj don’t have that additional sanction hanging over them.

Sporting have already qualified for this season’s Champions League knockout stage, while Porto will progress if they beat Atletico Madrid next week.