Legia Warsaw have suffered defeat in their final appeal against their effective expulsion from the Champions League at the expense of Celtic.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed Legia's claim that UEFA was too severe in its punishment for their fielding of a suspended player against Celtic, a mistake which stemmed from a clerical oversight.
Bartosz Bereszynski made a late substitute's appearance in the second leg of Legia's 6-1 aggregate victory over Celtic in the third qualifying round in August but he was not deemed to have served a three-match ban - despite sitting out three European games - as the Polish champions had not listed him as suspended in their squad for the previous round.
Celtic were awarded a 3-0 second-leg victory by UEFA's control and disciplinary body and went through on the away goals' rule, but were subsequently beaten by Maribor and failed to make the group stages.
Legia failed in an appeal to UEFA and also had a bid to be provisionally reinstated in the Champions League qualifiers rejected by CAS, and they have now lost their quest for about £1.3million compensation after the Swiss-based court dismissed their argument that UEFA's rules were overly bureaucratic and that the sanction was disproportionate.
A statement from the court read: "The CAS panel found that UEFA's requirement that only listed players can serve pending suspensions did not constitute excessive formalism and that it was compulsory for the club to list the player in order for him to serve his suspension.
"The panel further found that Legia Warsaw's violation of this requirement constituted a disciplinary infringement justifying the imposition of a disciplinary sanction, and that UEFA's decision to declare the club's match against Celtic FC to be lost by forfeit was not disproportionate."
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