Azerbaijan, Baku, Aug.25 / Trend/
Board of Directors of the Turkish football club "Fenerbahce" has appealed to the Arbitration Tribunal to change the Turkish Football Federation's (TFF) decision, according to which the club will not be able to take part in the Champions League this season, the "Sabah" newspaper reports.
One of lawyers of "Fenerbahce" Haluk Burcuoglu said that the club intends to appeal to all instances to prove that the decision is unfair.
Anadolu Agency reported with reference with the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) that Fenerbahce Football Club will not be able to participate at 2011-2012 UEFA Champions League
In a letter sent to the TFF on Aug.23, 2011, the UEFA said that Fenerbahce Football Club should refuse from attending the Champions League this season due to the match-fixing probe taking place in Turkey.
"In an extraordinary meeting of the TFF Executive Board on Wednesday, a decision was taken to ban Fenerbahce from the Champions League this season by taking into consideration the heavy disciplinary sanctions Fenerbahce as well as the TFF may face," the TFF statement says.
A Police operation was launched on July 3 in all 12 provinces of Turkey, including in Istanbul and Ankara. The president of the Turkish football organization Fenerbahce Aziz Yildirim was detained and arrested within the investigation for fixing matches between the Istanbul organization and the team "Eskishehirspor" during the 2010-2011 season, which was won by "Fenerbahce" with a score of 3-1.
Earlier President of the Turkish football organization Trabzonspor, Sadri Sener, and Turkish Football Federation Board Member Levent Kızıl were detained due to this case.
Turkish media do not exclude the possibility of an increase in the number of detainees in the near future. They predict that the number of those arrested may be 150, though official sources will not confirm this information.
This is the second major operation by the Turkish police on football anti-corruption. Some 55 people, including well-known coaches and players in Turkey, were arrested in March and April 2010 in Istanbul.