CAS rule against Drogheda United as "sorry" Trivela Group "accept responsibility" for club's removal from UEFA Conference League
Drogheda United 'knew or ought to have known' about UEFA's change of assessment date, despite the club's protestations of a failure in communication by the governing body.
The Court of Arbitration of Sport has ruled against Drogheda United’s appeal to UEFA’s decision to remove them from the UEFA Conference League this season, meaning that Drogheda United have become the first club ever to be removed from European competition owing to multi-club ownership rules.
The hearing began at 9am (Irish time) on Monday morning and concluded at around 4.30pm. A CAS spokesperson confirmed to Love Is The Drog that an operative decision from the Panel (without grounds) was expected later on Monday evening.
A decision was made quickly and Drogheda United released a statement at 5.18pm, revealing the devastating news to their supporters and the wider football public.
“It is with great heartbreak and disbelief that we inform you we have lost our appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. We strongly disagree with this decision, and had hoped and believed that the principles of fairness and common sense would prevail.
“After months of engagement, constructive dialogue, countless hours of legal preparation, and multiple proposals based on frameworks that have been accepted in the past, we have come up short. Despite genuine and vocal support across the football world, the ruling did not fall in our favour. We are heartbroken by the outcome.
“We know that this decision will cause hurt and frustration across our entire community. Not just because of the decision itself, but because we know how much this meant to everyone associated with Drogheda United. We know how hard this team fought to earn a place in European competition. We know how transformational that opportunity would have been, not just financially, but emotionally for our players, our staff, and our community.
“We disagree with this decision. We believe it is unjust. Rules should protect opportunity, not prevent it. Especially for community-driven clubs like ours who fight every day to punch above their weight.
It continued: “Nevertheless, we accept responsibility. And we’re sorry. But while we are saddened, we are also emboldened. We will not let this setback define us. Instead, we will use it as fuel. Our club has never been handed anything and we’ve earned every inch through grit, resilience, and unity. And we will continue to do so.
“We will push for reform so that no other community club finds itself in this position again. All parties can do better. And we will do our part to make sure we all do. We will share more in the coming days.
“But for now, our focus turns back to what we can control: the ongoing LOI campaign and our FAI Cup title defense, beginning in July against Crumlin. There is work to be done, on the pitch and off it. We are here. And we are not going anywhere. We will continue to invest in all areas of the club, including plans for a new stadium. We want to be regulars in Europe.
“This club is on the rise. Our league is on the rise. And no single outcome will change that.”
Drogheda United had requested that CAS annul UEFA’s initial decision but the panel - which included - Mr Kwadjo Adjepong (UK), President, Prof. Philippe Sands (UK/France) and Fabio Iudica (Italy) - rejected the club’s argument that the change of assessment date for the registration of a blind trust from June 3 to March 1 was not properly communicated to them.
The verdict was a majority decision - meaning United’s argument split the three panellists two to one.
They found ‘that such change was properly communicated by UEFA and that DUFC knew or ought to have known about this change. Furthermore, the majority of the Panel also rejected DUFC’s submissions on alleged unequal treatment by UEFA.’
The news came just as the Drogs were preparing to face Shamrock Rovers in the League of Ireland Premier Division. Ironically, this fixture was rescheduled from July so as to accommodate both Drogheda and Rovers’ European matches.
As Kevin Doherty prepared his side for the visit of Stephen Bradley’s league leaders, nobody was none the wiser about whether United would be fulfilling those fixtures as their European participation hinged on Monday’s CAS ruling. Now, they have just two scheduled fixtures in the month.
Drogheda went into today’s crunch hearing in Lausanne, Switzerland facing down the barrel of becoming the first club to be expelled from UEFA competition due to multi-club ownership rules after UEFA last week ruled against their case to compete in the UEFA Conference League this summer.
The draws for the first and second qualifying rounds take place tomorrow and Wednesday respectively and the Drogs were set to take their place in the second round draw.
Drogheda United club officials had booked their flights to and from UEFA Headquaters in Nyon for Wednesday, in expectation of attending the draw for the second qualifying round that afternoon.
Their participation in the competition was up in the air on account of sister club Silkeborg, in which Trivela Group own an 80% stake, qualifying for the competition on June 1 - almost seven months after United had seemingly made sure of their place by winning the FAI Cup.
Only a positive verdict from a CAS panel could save Drogheda United’s European ambitions - and the €525,000 financial reward it brings with it - after UEFA made their decision last week following a face-to-face meeting with the governing body’s Club Financial Control Body in Nyon.
Love Is The Drog has contacted UEFA for further comment.
There will be more coverage of the CAS ruling to come on Love Is The Drog over the coming days. Become a paid subscriber below to access all of our writing. Just tap the button below.
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Sickening stuff, so the end game is essentially trivela just didn’t make the changes in time ? Big question is what about next year if we are in the same spot again? How can you expect players to give their all to qualify for Europe if there’s a chance it’ll be ripped from us again.
Your heart would break for the players and staff. Let down big time by Trivela.
Reading through their statement again this morning, there seems to be a lot of emotive language but little substance. I'd say it's a poorly written piece of PR, but it seems a lot of people have bought it, going by comments online.
They've failed the stadium application, they've failed with the initial UEFA application, and they've failed with the appeal, all while saying outwardly they were confident of success in all three. If I was putting my money into Arlington Family Offices I'd be looking for a serious review of what's going on.
If they give you an interview Barry can you please aks them about how much they've spent here and who is financing that? If it's the club, via a loan that must be repaid to Trivela, they really need to be giving the boot.