The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected an attempt by Portuguese clubs Benfica and Vitoria Guimaraes to have rivals Porto thrown out of this season’s Champions League.
CAS announced on its website that Benfica and Guimaraes’ appeals against the Portuguese champions’ readmission to the competition had been dismissed.
UEFA had originally banned Porto from this season’s Champions League after the club were stripped of six domestic league points by the Portuguese football authorities for allegedly bribing referees.
UEFA’s own appeals body later reinstated Porto, however, arguing that the bribery investigations were still ongoing and would have to be completed before any Champions League punishment could be confirmed.