Fenerbahce, Besiktas CAS ban hearings set

Turkish clubs Besiktas and Fenerbahce will this week try to win their battle against a UEFA ban handed down for match-fixing, after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) set their hearing dates. In a statement, the Swiss-based tribunal said that the hearing in Besiktas's case would take place on Tuesday, while Fenerbahce's had been scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. "In accordance with the usual CAS practice, the cases will be heard by the CAS arbitrators, in private, in the presence of the representatives of the organisations involved and their legal teams," it said. It said that it expected to issue a decision in the Besiktas case by August 30, while Fenerbahce were set to learn their fate on August 28. European football's governing body UEFA ruled in June that Fenerbahce, Europa League semi-finalists last season, would be barred from the Champions League, while rivals Besiktas would not be allowed to compete in the Europa League. The two Istanbul clubs were banned for their role in a massive match-fixing scandal in Turkey. UEFA has been stepping up the fight against what is a major scourge of the game in a string of footballing nations. They were able to retain their Europeans berths, however, by virtue of an appeal to the CAS, the supreme court of the sporting world. That move led to the provisional freezing of the UEFA sanction. That added a layer of complexity to the case, as it allowed both clubs to continue to advance to the play-offs of their respective competitions, which will be left with a gaping hole if their ban is upheld. Fenerbahce are set to face Arsenal on Wednesday in their play-off first-leg match, while Besiktas travel to Norway to meet Tromso on Thursday. Turkish football was rocked by a huge corruption scandal in 2011 which resulted in Fenerbahce's president being sentenced to six years and three months in prison last July, though he was released after having been detained for a year when he appealed the conviction. He was just one of over 90 executives, officials and players convicted over the scandal which involved several matches in the 2010/11 league season and includes the game which saw Fenerbahce clinch the title - a 4-3 win over Sivasspor on the last day of the campaign. The two clubs had already been punished by the Turkish Football Federation with Fenerbahce being prevented from competing in the 2011/12 Champions League while Besiktas were stripped of their 2011 Turkish Cup victory. Source: AFP