Second year of Malaga ban waived

Spanish side Malaga have had the second year of their two-year suspension from European football repealed by UEFA.



Manuel Pellegrini's side were handed the ban by the governing body in December because of unpaid bills, but following the decision to halve that punishment they will only be unable to compete in continental competition for one season should they qualify within the next four years.



However, Pellegrini's men sit sixth and are primed to qualify for next season's UEFA Europa League, and La Rosaleda outfit keen for the ban to be removed completely after lodging appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.



A statement on the club's website read: "Malaga Club de Futbol received an official communication from UEFA today, Thursday May 16, stating that the financial control committee has confirmed, after analysing the situation surrounding the Martiricos outfit at as at March 31, 2013, that they are revoking the second year sanction imposed on the club.



"This resolution, together with the approval of the UEFA licence application for 2013-14, means that Malaga Club de Futbol is now just awaiting a decision by the TAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) – taking pace on June 4 – to determine whether the club can take part in European competition next year, if they achieve qualification at the end of the league season."



The news was greeted positively by the club's general manager Vicente Casado, who believes the decision confirms the UEFA Champions League quarter-finalists are financially viable.



He said: "This decision and the granting of the Licence confirms what the Club has maintained since the beginning, when our compliance with regulations was first in question.



"We've worked, and will continue to work as hard as we can, as we're very optimistic about the future."

Inter Milan fined for racist abuse

UEFA has fined Inter Milan 45,000 euros (US Dollars 58,500) for its fans' racist abuse against Tottenham forward Emmanuel Adebayor during a Europa League match.



UEFA's sanction included charges over other crowd issues, including Inter's "insufficient organization" of the match, plus objects thrown and fireworks lit by fans.



Adebayor's extra-time goal in a 4-1 loss was decisive in the last-16 match at the San Siro last month as Tottenham advanced on away goals. The two-legged series finished 4-4.



UEFA says its disciplinary panel also fined Benfica 32,000 euros (USD 41,600) for crowd incidents against Bordeaux.

UEFA backs red card referee

A UEFA spokesman says the governing body has "no issues" with Nani's red card against Real Madrid on Tuesday night.

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Manchester United were leading their Champions league last-16 tie 2-1 on aggregate when Nani caught Alvaro Arbeloa with a high foot and was sent off by referee Cuneyt Cakir.

Real went on to win 2-1 on the night and progress to the quarter-finals, and the outcome left Sir Alex Ferguson so "distraught" he delegated his post-match media duties to assistant Mike Phelan.

But despite widespread criticism of Cakir's decision in the English press, UEFA is backing its man.

The Guardian newspaper quoted a spokesman who said: "We have no problem with him.

"There are no issues for us regarding the sending off and we will wait for the official reports of the match delegate and the referee's observer, as is procedure.



"If they raise concerns then we will act. He remains on our list of officials."

UEFA bans player for life

Maltese footballer Kevin Sammut has been given a life ban for trying to throw a game against Norway, European football's governing body UEFA has announced, citing a ruling from one of its disciplinary tribunals.



The judgment bans the 31-year-old player from "football-related activity for life for breaching UEFA's principles of integrity and sportsmanship", the organisation said in an online statement.



The decision on appeal, which covers only football activities in Europe, went much further than a lower tribunal ruling in August that barred Sammut from the sport for 10 years.



Both the player and UEFA's disciplinary director had appealed against the original ruling, the statement read.



The match under investigation was a UEFA European Championship Group C qualifier in Oslo in June 2007, which Norway won 4-0.



The sport's world governing body, FIFA, is expected to consider extending the decision to a global ban, the UEFA statement continued, before adding that an appeal could be lodged against Monday's decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.



UEFA's appeals body meanwhile upheld the lower tribunal's ruling that there was not enough evidence against two other Maltese players, Kenneth Scicluna and Stephen Wellman, to take disciplinary action.

Sporting Lisbon blame error for UEFA shame list

Sporting Lisbon claim UEFA has made a mistake in naming them on the list of 23 teams who have outstanding payments.



The Portuguese side believe the only reason they are on the list is because European football's governing body released it prior to the October 14 deadline.



The 18-time Portuguese champions have admitted owing a minor amount to another club, but club president Luis Godinho Lopes was surprised to make the UEFA list.



"I can't say that I am pleased with the ruckus around this issue," he said. "I was sad to see Sporting's name mentioned, there was a communication error."



The Estadio Jose Alvalade outfit last year posted losses of 46 million euros after making a number of big-money signings, but claim they have paid all their taxes and social security payments.



The club's vice-president Jose Guedes confirmed the club owe no salary payments and reassured his team's fans that the amounts owed were negligible.



"The case is related to payments to football clubs and the sums are really not too big," he said.