LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) The Court of Arbitration for Sport has dismissed an appeal by Besiktas against UEFA's decision to ban the Turkish club from this season's Europa League for match-fixing.
Besiktas qualified for the Europa League by finishing third in the Turkish league last season but was banned by UEFA which said Besiktas fixed its victory in the 2011 Turkish Cup. Clubs can be banned for one season for fixing any matches dating back to 2007.
The CAS said it would give a full explanation for its decision at a later date, but wanted to make the announcement of its verdict prior to Friday's draw for the group stage of the compeitition.
Besiktas had played under appeal to CAS in the Europa League playoff on Thursday against Norway's Tromso. UEFA said on its website on Friday that Tromso would replace Besiktas in the draw for the group stage.
