Uefa invites Sion to resolve legal saga

European football’s governing body has asked FC Sion to settle their legal dispute once and for all at the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Uefa said on Tuesday it was “constitutionally unable” to reinstate the Swiss club in the Europa League.

Sion has breached football’s rules by launching a series of civil court actions against Uefa since being expelled from the competition last month for fielding ineligible players.

Sion also asked Uefa for €5 million ($6.8 million) in damages and filed a criminal complaint against its president Michel Platini when his organisation’s independent judicial bodies ignored a local court’s interim ruling.

Uefa and the governing body of world football, Fifa, have accused Sion of damaging Switzerland’s image and threatening chaos by undermining the sport’s global legal structures. Both bodies prohibit members from pursuing legal cases in civil courts.

Sion previously said it would challenge Uefa at the CAS. It wants the CAS to dismiss Uefa’s appeals panel ruling on September 13 that Celtic should be awarded 3-0 victories by default in both legs of their playoff round in August. Sion had beaten the Scottish club 3-1 on aggregate using five players signed in the offseason in breach of a Fifa transfer ban.

Sion incurred the one-year ban on signing players after luring goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary to break his contract with Egyptian club Al-Ahly in 2008. The legality of the sanction was upheld by Fifa, CAS and then by Switzerland’s supreme court in January.

Sion argues it served the ban over several transfer windows and was clear to sign new players in June.