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Lennon: We Have Sent Letters


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Embarrassing :anguish:

That a scottish football team wasnt good enough to beat Fc Sion, and are now going down the lines off trying to get back into the competition on a technicality :anguish:

Neil Lennon hopes Celtic will get into the Europa League group stages on a technicality after crashing out 3-1 to FC Sion in their play-off second-leg clash.

Daniel Majstorovic was sent off early on and Pascal Feindounoscored from the spot before adding a second after the break.

Celtic defender Charlie Mulgrew pulled one back but Giovanni Sio notched a third for the Swiss side to send them through.

However, Celtic are looking for a red tape reprieve as Sion have five players in their squad - Feindouno, Mario Mutsch and Gabri, Jose Goncalves and Billy Ketkeophomphone - who are, in the eyes of Fifa, ineligible to play in the competition.

Sion's European squad, though, was approved by the Swiss FA who, along with the club, have reportedly been warned by Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino about possible sanctions, although the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who will rule on the issue, will not pass their verdict until next week.

The Celtic boss, however, expects a positive outcome.

"We have sent in letters last week and handed one to the delegate," he said. "There is hearing on Tuesday and we will know the outcome after that.

"If clubs are breaking the rules then every club should break the rule then."

Asked if he would be comfortable about replacing Sion, he replied: "Yes."

No humiliation

In his first European foray as permanent boss last season Lennon's side lost to Braga and FC Utrecht in the respective UEFA Champions League and Europa League qualifiers but he denied this latest failure was humiliating.

He said: "Humiliating? It's a such a strong word. I don't think it is a humiliation.

"We have to be realistic about things, we are not where we were four or five years ago in Europe.

"I am frustrated that I failed to take the team through.

"I would say to the fans to stick the team and no one is as disappointed as myself with the result."

The former Celtic skipper will look at the penalty incident again before he makes his mind up about Majstorovic's involvement.

"I would like to know how he got there in the first place," he said. "But I think it was a penalty and I think he had to go.

"We will have a look at him later. We regrouped and did very well. I am very disappointed that we lost but there was a lot I took out of the game."

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Embarrassing :anguish:

That a scottish football team wasnt good enough to beat Fc Sion, and are now going down the lines off trying to get back into the competition on a technicality :anguish:

That is besides the point. If Sion broke the rules, whoever they are playing, then they shouldn't get away with it. Should we just bin the rule books when someone we don't like is involved? I don't know if they did break the rules of not. But would we accept it? I don't think so. Whether it's the classy thing to do is another matter. But class rarely comes into it when millions of pounds are involved.

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this doesnt suprise me to be honest,, i thought it wouldve came out after their first leg

at the end of the day if Sion broke the rules then they should be booted out

just a shame it will be them cunts that profit from it if they do.

is anybody honestly suprised at them goin down this road?? its what weve come to expect from them

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We've been hearing about this since the last tie? It's not as much a revelation as some might think.. It was decided last week it wouldn't be looked at until after the tie.

If it was us, I'd be pissed off too. Especially considering an ineligible player scored 2 goals. Technically, he shouldn't have been playing and it should be 1-1.

Embarrassing though. For them, and partly for Scottish football as a whole.

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Even if Sion have broken the rules and get kicked out, seltic won't get back in. Uefa will never invite the losing team back in.

I don't know, you could argue that since Sion fielded ineligible players in both legs then those should be registered as a 3-0 defeat for them (as it's normally done in such cases).

It is a ridiculous situation though, I really don't get why UEFA or governing bodies in general. Look at how late Fenerbahce were thrown out.

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Why are these players supposedly ineligible?

Fifa banned them for two transfer windows,a year, from buying players. FC Sion didnt buy anyone for two transfer windows, but this season when the transfer window open they brought in six. Fifa now claim this transfer window was part off the ban.

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Fifa banned them for two transfer windows,a year, from buying players. FC Sion didnt buy anyone for two transfer windows, but this season when the transfer window open they brought in six. Fifa now claim this transfer window was part off the ban.

So they don't really have a case to answer then.

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