Trabzonspor's appeal for 2011 Turkish title dismissed

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) - A Swiss-based international sports court dismissed Turkish football club Trabzonspor's appeal for the disputed 2011 Turkish Super Lig title as it saw their rivals Fenerbahce the champions.

The arbitration procedure between Trabzonspor, Turkish Football Federation (TFF), Fenerbahce and FIFA has been completed as the court dismissed the appeal of 2011 runners-up Trabzonspor, who asked to be declared as the Turkish champions at that time, Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on its website on Tuesday.

The CAS said that there isn't any legal basis for the 2010-11 Turkish Super Lig runners-up Trabzonspor to be declared as winners even the FIFA ordered the TFF to directly or indirectly sanction Fenerbahce over match fixing claims.

"Finally, the situation of Trabzonspor could not be directly affected if FIFA had decided 1) to open a case on the merits and 2) to order the TFF to sanction Fenerbahce or if FIFA had decided to sanction
Fenerbahce directly. There is indeed no legal provision which would have allowed TFF or FIFA to allow the second-ranked team of the Turkish Super Lig to be automatically declared champion instead
of the first, if this latter is excluded. Trabzonspor did not bring any evidence of the existence of legal provisions of FIFA or TFF which could serve as a basis for such a decision," the CAS said.

Fenerbahce won the 2010-11 Turkish Super Lig title by goal average against Trabzonspor. Both teams had 82 points. But Trabzonspor claimed that Fenerbahce won this title by match-fixing activities. So Trabzonspor took this case to TFF, European football's governing body UEFA, FIFA and lastly to CAS.

UEFA barred Fenerbahce from the UEFA Champions League for two seasons over an investigation.

Several important football figures -- chairmen, players and board members -- were taken into custody over match fixing and bribery claims after a legal action was launched in July 2011.

That month, Fenerbahce chair Aziz Yildirim was jailed for forming an illegal organization and his involvement in match fixing in Turkish football's top division. He was sentenced to six years and three months. He served one year of his sentence, while in June 2014, his jail term was suspended and a retrial was ordered. Yildirim was acquitted of all charges by an Istanbul court on Oct. 9, 2015.

The 2011 Super Lig champions, Fenerbahce weren't included in Champions League, while Trabzonspor went through this competition's group stage in the 2011-12 football season.

In Aug. 2013, CAS approved UEFA's decision to ban Fenerbahce for two seasons in the European tournaments due to match-fixing.

Any involvement in match-fixing automatically disqualifies a club from European competitions, according to the UEFA's regulations.

Trabzonspor still claim themselves as the 2011 Super Lig winners. The Black Sea club added the disputed 2010-11 title on the honors section of their website like they won it.