(Reuters) -League of Ireland club Drogheda United's appeal over their exclusion from the Conference League by UEFA due to non-compliance with regulations on multi-club ownership was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday.
Drogheda, FAI Cup winners last season, are owned by multi-club football organization Trivela Group, who also have a majority stake in Danish side Silkeborg, and the issue arose when both clubs qualified for next season's Conference League.
UEFA regulations mean the higher-ranked team, Silkeborg, remain in the competition. Drogheda were informed last week of their removal and the Irish club appealed to CAS, but will miss out on a return to European football for the first time since 2013.
Drogheda cited significant efforts to work with UEFA to make necessary ownership and governance changes to allow both clubs to compete, along with rule changes which, in their view, have been inconsistently communicated and enforced across various clubs.
CAS decided that a change of assessment date was properly communicated by UEFA and the club ought to have known about the change and they also rejected Drogheda's submissions on alleged unequal treatment by UEFA.
"We strongly disagree with this decision, and had hoped and believed that the principles of fairness and common sense would prevail," a club statement said.
"We believe it is unjust. Rules should protect opportunity, not prevent it. Nevertheless, we accept responsibility. And we're sorry."
Last season, UEFA allowed Manchester City and Girona to compete in the Champions League and Manchester United and Nice to take part in the Europa League saying investors had implemented changes to avoid any conflict with the regulations.
UEFA's Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) is currently looking into FA Cup winners Crystal Palace's involvement in the Europa League, due to majority owner John Textor's involvement with Olympique Lyonnais who also qualified for the competition.
CAS rejected an appeal by Club Leon last month, after the Mexican club were removed from the Club World Cup by FIFA after failing to meet regulations on multi-club ownership.
(Reporting by Trevor StynesEditing by Christian Radnedge)
