UEFA ban for Panathinakos
UEFA have banned Panathinaikos from European football after the Greek side were found guilty of having overdue payables.
It is the latest action from UEFA who seem to be cracking down on club’s breaking licensing regulations to give them a chance of appearing in lucrative European competitions.
In December UEFA found Panathinaikos guilty of having overdue payables but gave them until 1 March 2018 to prove that they had made the payments or come to an agreement with creditors.
In the first instance UEFA effectively allow national associations to self certify licence applications but they can be subjected to an external audit.
The club were found guilty of breaching rules relating to overdue payables and faced exclusion unless they were able to prove, by 1 Mar 18, that they had paid the overdue amounts or concluded an agreement with creditors regarding the amounts identified as overdue as at 30 Sep 17
— Laura Sports Law (@laurasportslaw) April 24, 2018
Unless every criteria is satisfied a club can be fined or excluded from UEFA competitions putting the onus on the national association to ensure that everything is compliant.
In September 2017 Stewart Regan announced that he had referred the 2011/12 licence given to Rangers (IL) to the Compliance Officer of the SFA.
Clear evidence emerged during Craig Whyte’s trial that Rangers owed £2.8m to HMRC months in advance of the first UEFA deadline, 30 March 2011.
Rangers went into liquidation with that bill unpaid, there has been no further comment from the SFA about the enquiry.
CLICK HERE for the full UEFA statement.