UEFA ruled on Friday that Atletico Madrid will be forced to play their next UEFA Champions League match November 26th against PSV in an empty Vicente Calderon Stadium after investigating claims of fan racism and violence during the October 1st match against Ligue1 side Marseille.

Mexican born head coach Javier Aguirre was also banned for the next two Champions League matches at Liverpool and home against PSV after UEFA’s disciplinarians found him accused of insulting a Marseille player, while the second match ban that was to be played behind doors will be deferred for two years as of now.

And while Atletico has said that they will challenge the verdict in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, they were also ordered to pay a 130 Thousand Euro fine.

Via IHT

“UEFA policy is clear - zero tolerance of violence, racism or discrimination,” Platini said in a letter to delegates who represent UEFA at Champions League matches.

“It is vital that your post-match reports … demonstrate no leniency whatsoever in the face of violent, racist or discriminatory behavior on the part of players, club officials, technical staff or fans.

image via Portugoal

UPDATE - Group stages are set as the draw is in.

GROUP A: Schalke 04, Paris Saint Germain, Manchester City, Racing Santander, FC Twente

GROUP B: Benfica, Olympiakos, Galatasaray, Hertha Berlin, Metalist Kharkiv

GROUP C: Sevilla, VfB Stuttgart, Sampdoria, Partizan Belgrade, Standard Liege

GROUP D: Tottenham Hotspur, Spartak Moscow, Udinese, Dinamo Zagreb, NEC Nijmegen

GROUP E: AC Milan, Heerenveen, SC Braga, Portsmouth, VfL Wolfsburg

GROUP F: Hamburg, Ajax, Slavia Prague, Aston Villa, MSK Zilina

GROUP G: Valencia, Club Brugge, Rosenborg, FC Copenhagen, Saint-Etienne

GROUP H: CSKA Moscow, Deportivo La Coruna, Feyenoord, Nancy, Lech Poznan

The UEFA Cup draw is set for Tuesday as the top three qualified for the knock-out rounds, where they are joined by eight teams from the Champions League.

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Numero uno is FIFA’s president Joseph Blatter, and they give a great quote from Sepp:

“FIFA is like the United Nations but it has more members and is more powerful”

Six of the top ten most powerful global figures have soccer ties including Becks clocking in at No. 5, Roman Abramovic at No. 6, and Cristiano at 7. Herbert Hanier the president of Adidas is No. 4 and Michel Platini UEFA president is 8. Click on this link for the slideshow and complete coverage from Business Week.

photo. getty images

I.Shouldve.Played.Soccer

Michel Platini has sexified the UEFA Cup for the 2009 season, re-naming the new look league the UEFA Europa League and adding to 48 clubs in 12 groups of 4, with the top two in each joining the 8 third place clubs in the Champions League 32 club knockout phase.

The league will also have it’s television rights sold the same way as the Champions League.

“I am convinced the new format will give the Uefa Europa League a successful new impetus,” said Uefa president Michel Platini.

“These changes will improve this historic competition, which is very important for Uefa and for European football as it gives more fans, players and clubs the thrill of European club football.”

image via Telegraph

With scoring the all important away goal in a 2 - 1 loss last week, Rennes came back and got the 2 - nil result at home that puts them through to face the Freaky, Deeky Dutch side FC Twente.

With all the hoopla surrounding today’s Uefa Super Cup Final between Manchester United (Champions League Winner) and Zenit St. Petersburg (Uefa Cup Holders) on Fox Soccer Channel at 11.30am (West Coast), the 2008/09 Uefa Cup First Round draw might have gotten lost in the shuffle.

And while every team’s am is to get to the final at Instanbul’s Sukru Saracoglu Stadium on May 20th, pushing through the first home (September 18th) and away leg (October 2nd) will be the first test.

Some of the more interesting pairings are after the Jump….

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Not only is it a big day in the world of big business transfers, but it’s also the day that the balls drop and teams find out who gets who in the Champions League Group Stage draw in Monaco.

With all the major clubs directors in town (the Uefa Club Player of the Year will also be announced while the Uefa Group Stage Draw will be held on Friday), you know at least a couple more deals are about to be finalized as well as clubs looking to pick up fringe players on the cheap.

The 32 teams that have qualified will be put into a pot, picked out one by one and will end up in eight different groups of four teams.

None of the English teams will face each other in the early Group Stages after all were made a top seed.

Roma’s Stade Olimpico will host the 2009 Champions League Final on May 27th.

US International Danny Califf and his Danish SuperLiga side FC Midtjylland took down the Premiership’s Manchester City 1 - nil in Manchester for the first leg of the Uefa Cup second round Qualifying.

Via BBC

Manchester City boss Mark Hughes:
“Perhaps we were a bit behind them in terms of sharpness and match fitness but that is no excuse.

“In the first half we had too many unforced errors. We needed to be more dynamic, show more personality, and to try to drive the play.

“We need to get up to speed before the weekend and hopefully this game will let us know where we are at and what we need to do.”

Midtjylland defender Danny Calliff:
“We had to believe that we could get a result. We had to match the effort and tonight it was enough.

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