March 3 – In a firm statement of intent, UEFA have thrown Galatasaray out of European competition for a year for breaching financial fair play rules.
The Turkish champions will be excluded from the Champions League or Europa League if they qualify this season or next.
Galatasaray finished third in their Champions League group during the current campaign and were demoted into the Europa League where they were beaten 4-2 on aggregate in the last 32 by Lazio.
In 2014, UEFA fined them €200,000 and required them to break even on football-related trading over a three-year period. A UEFA statement said the latest sanction was imposed after Galatasaray failed to comply with the terms of that settlement agreement by breaking regulations on the level of financial losses allowed.
The club have played in the Champions League for the past four seasons and the ban will come into force the first time they qualify for either that or the Europa League within the next two seasons – but it will be waived if they fail to qualify for either competition.
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