Spurs handed bye into next round of UEFA
Cup
Tottenham have been given a bye into the last 16 of the UEFA Cup,
subject to a possible appeal by Feyenoord to the Court of
Arbitration for Sport.
The Dutch club were kicked out of the tournament following crowd
trouble earlier in the season against French side Nancy.
Spurs were due to travel to Rotterdam on February 15 but will now
go straight through to the next round where they will play Braga or
Parma.
A statement from UEFA read: 'Tottenham have received a bye into the
UEFA Cup round of 16 following the exclusion of opponents Feyenoord
from the competition.'
UEFA's other option was to order Spurs to play Wisla Krakow, who
finished behind Feyenoord in the group stage.
While Spurs will lose revenue from gate receipts and television
money, they gain prize money for getting closer to this season's
final, in Glasgow.
Martin Jol's men also move a step closer to ending their eight-year
wait for a trophy, the day after their hopes of reaching the
Carling Cup final was dented by Julio Baptista earning Arsenal a
2-2 draw in the semi-final first leg at White Hart Lane.
It gives Jol's men more recovery time in their hectic schedule,
although it offers a spare week for the Premiership clash against
Everton which requires rescheduling.
Dutchman Jol had spoken earlier in the week about expecting
compensation for missing out on the Feyenoord trip.
'My chairman thinks that if we want to play in Europe we should
play in Europe,' said Jol. 'He's right because it was a big tie
against Feyenoord and hopefully we'll get some compensation but
other people may think differently.'
'The decision taken by UEFA is subject to a possible appeal by
Feyenoord to the Court of Arbitration of Sport,' confirmed a
statement on their official website.
Feyenoord are expected to take the matter to the CAS.
The Rotterdammers' financial director Onno Jacobs, speaking at a
fans forum today, was asked what course of action the club would
take if they were thrown out of the tournament.
He said: 'The chances of us taking the matter to CAS are high. This
is based on the fact we don't feel we should be punished in this
way. There is an overall feeling that the punishment is not
justifiable.'
