THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — FC Sion will discover within the next week whether a Swiss judge will support the club in its legal battle against UEFA through the country’s civil courts.
The judge on Tuesday sought extra time to make her ruling on whether Sion should be reinstated to the Europa League.
The Swiss club has challenged UEFA’s authority in expelling it from the competition for fielding ineligible players in breach of a transfer ban after losing a series of cases at sports’ recognized judicial bodies.
Although the Europa League is already under way, with the second round of matches to be played this week, Sion has been encouraged in its fight with European football’s governing body.
The judge’s delay in reaching a verdict means, however, that Thursday’s match between Celtic — the club that took Sion’s place despite losing in the playoffs — and Udinese will go ahead.
Sion said its lawyers and UEFA presented their full arguments for nearly four hours Tuesday in the Vaud cantonal (state) civil court that previously awarded the club an interim ruling to be reinstated.
UEFA ignored that ruling when it dismissed Sion’s appeal against expulsion two weeks ago and gave Celtic approval to face Atletico Madrid in its opening group match. The Scottish club lost 2-0 in Spain. The four-team group also includes Rennes.
During courtroom arguments Tuesday, UEFA lawyers said it was technically possible to reinstate Sion between the group matches finishing in December and the last-32 knockout stage beginning in February.
"Sion saw in that an attempt to buy time, and reaffirmed its wish to be reinstated immediately," the club said in a statement.
Sion has pledged to also challenge UEFA at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
On Wednesday, Sion is at CAS for another appeal hearing.
It has challenged the Swiss league for refusing to register the six players at the centre of the dispute, which it signed in the off-season.
Sion succeeded in getting a civil court’s interim judgment to approve the players, which has been obeyed by the league pending the CAS verdict.
Also Tuesday, Sion avoided another fixture on UEFA turf when its Swiss Cup match against Stade Nyonnais was moved from the second-tier club’s home ground across the road from the headquarters of European football.
Sion said the clubs agreed it would host the last-32 match on Oct. 15 because Stade Nyonnais would lose money on infrastructure and security upgrades needed to stage the match at its UEFA-managed stadium.