Midtjylland’s Brazilian star Juninho, who played against Celtic last week, was sensationally prevented from playing against PSV Eindhoven last night in the 3rd round Champions League qualifier because he was ineligible as we was supposed to be serving a ban carried over from his previous club . And that means that he was also ineligible to play against Celtic which throws up fascinating scenarios as both the Lion and Legia Warsaw situations in recent years indicate.
The Follow Follow poster who works for Radio Clyde will no doubt be all over this breaking story this morning, getting on to his contacts at UEFA to confirm that Midtjylland played an ineligible player against Celtic and asking if their own rules should be applied and Celtic awarded a 3-0 win. Or maybe in this instance he won’t bother, but Celtic should certainly be asking for clarification from UEFA.
As expected PSV last night had little difficulty in seeing off the Danes in the first leg with an emphatic 3-0 win which effectively puts the tie to bed. However Midtjylland will drop into the Group stages of the Europa League, unless they can overcome the 3-0 deficit next week, if that tie is allowed to proceed.
Contrast that with Celtic’s position, where Ange Postecoglou’s side have to beat both Czech Republic’s FK Jablonec then Dutch side AZ Alkmaar to get to the group stages alongside Midtjylland. While timescales are tight, it is hard to imagine that logistics alone are a good enough reason for Celtic to ignore the fact that Juninho was essentially ineligible to play in the 2nd round Champions League qualifier last week. UEFA have always been consistent in enforcing these rules so it is going to be interesting to see what happens with this story today.
The translate function on Twitter of this post from the Danish club explains the position as they see it: “The Brazilian Football Federation handed out several quarantines in the spring after a disciplinary case in a match in Brazil, here among others to Juninho. UEFA announced a few hours ago that FIFA has confirmed the quarantine sentence, which is why Juninho has been forced out of tonight’s showdown.”
Det brasilianske fodboldforbund uddelte i foråret flere karantæner efter en disciplinærsag i en kamp i Brasilien, her i blandt til Juninho.
UEFA har for få timer siden meddelt, at FIFA har stadfæstet karantænedommen, hvorfor Juninho er tvunget ud af aftenens opgør.#PSVFCM
— FC Midtjylland (@fcmidtjylland) August 3, 2021
This story was first brought to our attention via this tweet last night…
Midtjylland player Juninho got a 8 match ban in Brazil for a mass brawl.
That judgment counts towards all tournaments.
He played against Celtic and matches in the Danish league.
Rumours are that technically they fielded and ineligible player in those matches.— IGCeltic (@CelticIg) August 3, 2021
Juninho was suspended in June for six matches for his kicking an opponent in a mass brawl at the end of a match involving his loan side Bahia. That ruling was upheld by the Brazilian Sports Court on 15 July, two days after the player signed for Midtjylland.
The question was whether that suspension only applied in Brazilian football or world wide, but a meeting of the FIFA disciplinary committee yesterday ruled that it was indeed a global ban, of which only two had already been served in Brazil prior to his departure.
I følge artiklen her er karantænerne stadfæstet 15. juli af Brasiliens Sportsdomstol (STJD) og er ikke anket sidenhen, i hvert fald ikke af Bahia eller Palmeiras, som ejede Juninho dengang. Måske FCM har anket?
Juninho har spillet mod både Celtic og Viborg i mellemtiden 😳 https://t.co/nAitBdN9IC
— Benjamin Leander (@LeandinhoDK) August 3, 2021
Midtjylland will argue that the player was free to play against Celtic as they awaited the decision from FIFA. Juninho has also in a league match in Denmark for Midtjylland so that could also be a problem for them.
A statement on the FC Midtjylland website reads: “The Brazilian Football Federation handed out several quarantines in the spring after a disciplinary case in a match in Brazil, including to Juninho, who was awarded eight matches in the stands.
“In connection with the switch to FC Midtjylland, FIFA has had to assess whether the quarantine was exclusively valid nationally or world-wide. “FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee met yesterday afternoon, where it was decided to confirm the Brazilian Football Federation’s quarantine of a total of eight playing days, two of which have already been served in Brazil.
“That information was passed on by UEFA a few hours ago, which is why Juninho has been forced out of tonight’s showdown as well as the next five matches across all tournaments.
Sports manager Svend Gravesen said: “We take note of the decision, but do not understand the timing. We are a few hours from an important match for qualification for the Champions League in the Netherlands and do not have the opportunity to take a replacement.
“FC Midtjylland is investigating the possibility of appealing the ruling.”
This has shades of this…
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Profesjonalizm 100% – the way Marta described herself on Facebook. Maybe not 100% Marta… Back in the summer of 2014 Marta Ostrowska was the Legia Warsaw administrator who made the mistake of including Bartosz Bereszynski, their suspended player in the squad at Murrayfield, having not registered him against St Pats in the previous round or in the first leg against Celtic in Warsaw. As a result of this mistake Marta was fired by Legia Warsaw.
Celtic were awarded a 3-0 win by UEFA and proceeded to the next qualifying round on the away goals rule, having previously lost the first leg in Poland by 4-1. The home game was also lost on the park which was played at Murrayfield as Celtic Park was being used for the Commonwealth Games but that was irrelevant given the mistake that Legia made.
There is also the Sion precedent too. In 2011 Celtic lost 3-1 to the Swiss side but appealed to UEFA re their opponents fielding five ineligible players. UEFA decision was explained as flows:””The Uefa control and disciplinary body dealt with the two protests lodged by Celtic FC against the validity of their Uefa Europa League play-off ties played against FC Sion on 18 and 25 August (2011). The Scottish club questioned the eligibility of a number of the Sion players who participated in these matches, with the Swiss side winning 3-1 on aggregate.
“The control and disciplinary body accepted both protests and decided to award both ties to Celtic by forfeit (3-0). As a consequence, Celtic are qualified for the Uefa Europa League group stage.”
A Celtic statement said: “We have been advised by Uefa that the two protests relating to the matches against FC Sion have been upheld, as a result of which each match has been forfeited in favour of Celtic. We are pleased by this decision, the approach which has been taken by Uefa and the fact that Uefa rules and regulations have been upheld. We are also grateful for the support of the Scottish FA in this matter.”
The question this morning as FC Midtjylland joins Sion and Legia Warsaw on the list of clubs who have fielded ineligible players against Celtic, is will UEFA hand out the appropriate punishment?
It’s simply the old saying “if you don’t ask the question then you don’t get an answer”. It’s the responsibility of our Board to ask UEFA the question about the validity of FC Midtyllands result against us and what if any effect it could have on the correct European Competition this Season we should currently be in.