UEFA exclude third-placed Turan Tovuz from the Conference League over a 2019 match-fixing ruling
Turan Tovuz finished third in 2025/26 and qualified for the Conference League on merit. In early June UEFA excluded them under Article 4.01(g) of the competition regulations, citing a…
Turan Tovuz finished third in 2025/26 and qualified for the Conference League on merit. 01(g) of the competition regulations, citing a decision of the AFFA Disciplinary Committee dated 13 December 2019 which handed lifetime bans to seven then-Turan Tovuz players as part of a 28-person match-fixing sanction.
The club rejected the ruling and announced an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, arguing that the sanction concerned a completely different squad and ownership seven years earlier. Azerbaijani media reported that Zirə would take the vacated place.
As of late July the position remained contradictory: the league's own competition listings still showed Turan Tovuz in the first qualifying round. The case dominated Azerbaijani sports coverage through the summer.