The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Monday it will hear Fenerbahçe’s appeal against UEFA and Turkey’s football federation on June 18. Fenerbahçe won last season’s Turkish league but was then accused of fixing matches during its unbeaten surge to the title. Club Chairman Aziz Yıldırım was jailed and is the main defendant in an ongoing criminal trial. The TFF withdrew Fenerbahçe from the Champions League last August, days before UEFA conducted the group-stage draw. Fenerbahçe wants compensation for missing out on UEFA prize money plus commercial revenue from at least six matches, and for its share price falling. Trabzonspor, the league runner-up, took Turkey’s guaranteed place in the lucrative Champions League groups despite having already lost in a qualifying round -- and also having officials under suspicion in the widespread match-fixing scandal. A TFF disciplinary unit is scheduled to decide soon on sanctions for clubs involved in the scandal, ahead of potential criminal convictions that are not expected this year. Depending on the verdicts, Fenerbahçe could be excluded from the Champions League for a second season.
