CAS denies Legia Warsaw appeal against UEFA

Legia Warsaw was seeking compensation from UEFA for a Champions League exit. (Alik Keplicz/AP)

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Legia Warsaw has lost its appeal for compensation from UEFA after being eliminated from the Champions League for fielding an ineligible player.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Thursday that its panel dismissed the Polish champion’s demand for 1,854,385 euros ($2.06 million) compensation.

The three-member court panel found that Legia broke a clear UEFA rule requiring suspended players to be registered for matches in order to serve their ban.

As a result, "the panel found that it was not necessary to address the claim for compensation," CAS said in a statement.

It was Legia’s second loss at CAS.

Last August, the court rejected the club’s urgent request for reinstatement in the playoff round instead of previous opponent Celtic.

UEFA punished Legia for fielding Bartosz Bereszynski as a late substitute in Scotland when he was still technically serving a three-match suspension.

Legia won 6-1 on aggregate but the second leg was declared forfeit, giving Celtic a 3-0 win to advance on away goals.

Because Legia failed to register Bereszynski on its squad list for the second qualifying round, those two matches did not count against his ban.

Celtic lost the playoff to Maribor, which advanced to the lucrative group stage.

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