LAUSANNE, Aug 28: Turkish side Fenerbahce will be unable to compete in the Europa League this season after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld a UEFA-imposed two-year ban from European competition over a match-fixing scandal on Wednesday.

“Pursuant to the UEFA decision, which is now confirmed by the CAS, Fenerbahce are excluded from two editions of the UEFA club competitions,” the court said in a statement.

The sanction was ordered by European football's governing body UEFA in June, but the Istanbul club immediately launched an appeal with the Lausanne-based CAS in a bid to overturn it.Fenerbahce then successfully appealed for the ban to be suspended pending the hearing.

They were thus able to take part in the qualifying rounds for this season's Champions League, defeating Salzburg of Austria before falling to Arsenal at the final hurdle.

The CAS panel's judgment immediately removes Fenerbahce from the group stage of the Europa League.

Fenerbahce were due to join the second-tier competition after being eliminated by Arsenal in the Champions League playoffs on Tuesday 5-0 on aggregate.—Agencies