Osasuna cleared to play in Conference League playoff round

Osasuna have won their battle to be admitted into the UEFA Conference League, after they took their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Pamplona will be a happy place this week after Los Rojillo emitted a statement confirming that they had been given permission by UEFA to play the Conference League next season.

UEFA had initially suspended the club from European competition for a year following match-fixing that occurred in 2013 and 2014. At the time Osasuna were the ones that reported the incident to the authorities, and in the Spanish justice system, they were declared a victim of the match-fixing, with the individual directors involved the perpetrators.

After taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Osasuna did not say that ruling was given, but rather that UEFA had concluded, as the authorities in Spain had, that in light of new evidence provided by the club, they were victims of the crime too.

This will be a major relief for Osasuna, who had described it as great injustice, while Sporting Director Braulio Vazquez had said it left him questioning his faith in football. They felt that they were being robbed of a reward that they had earned on the pitch.

Their statement continued on to say that they would accept a punishment imposed by UEFA for taking the case through the ordinary justice system, but that it would not impact their participation in the competition. They will now attend the play-off draw on the 7th of August with the rest of the teams.

Athletic Club are set to miss out as a result. Los Leones, who had finished 8th and just behind Los Rojillo, would have taken their place had the case been upheld, but will now have to reshuffle their plans too.