Celtic Appoint Ronny Deila As New Manager

[IrishRick]

I wonder how people saying it was absolutely fair to dismiss Legia from the competition for such error will react next time United get a harsh decision against them. Hopefully this 'rules are rules' trend will continue then.

A harsh decision on the pitch can be hugely frustrating obviously but it happens as its made in a split second moment in the heat of battle. This was an awful administration error by Legia that could have been checked days even weeks before hand. They shot themselves in the foot and while I do understand how annoyed they must be it is there own fault. Celtic have got a huge let off but they did not make Legia register this player. I know he only played for a few minutes but he could have played the 90. The point is he should not have been on the pitch at all. It was the clubs error and the club has been punished according to the rules

BTW Legia registered Bereszyński for St Patricks games as it turns out. They only crossed over his name before the games which basically worked as de-registering the player. Incredible stupidity.

As you say incredible stupidity here but it also shows they were aware of his availability and could easily have checked with UEFA how the registration works regarding the player. Though its obvious to me that a player cannot serve a suspension for a game he is not registered for. They broke the ruled through their own negligence. Simple as sadly

 

[Sarni]

A harsh decision on the pitch can be hugely frustrating obviously but it happens as its made in a split second moment in the heat of battle. This was an awful administration error by Legia that could have been checked days even weeks before hand. They shot themselves in the foot and while I do understand how annoyed they must be it is there own fault. Celtic have got a huge let off but they did not make Legia register this player. I know he only played for a few minutes but he could have played the 90. The point is he should not have been on the pitch at all. It was the clubs error and the club has been punished according to the rules

As you say incredible stupidity here but it also shows they were aware of his availability and could easily have checked with UEFA how the registration works regarding the player. Though its obvious to me that a player cannot serve a suspension for a game he is not registered for. They broke the ruled through their own negligence. Simple as sadly

It is daft though that according to the rules you can basically kick a team out of competition for an administrative error of such minor calibre. People can go over and over about how it's Legia's fault and it is - it doesn't change the fact that the rule itself is incredibly stupid and I bet UEFA themselves are amazed that they have left no choice for them in this case.

It's an error of one single person in club's administration. She's the only one responsible for this and the whole club, and especially players who have fought very hard to get where they were, should not be punished for that under these circumstances. No matter how many times I'm told 'rules are rules' I refuse to believe that football should be about administration nuances more than what happens on the pitch.

If he were banned in the previous game and still played - fault is clear. If he were banned in the previous round and came back too quick - fault is clear. He sat through 3 games though, the only reason why it didn't count is because they made a simple paperwork error in the previous round. It wouldn't have cost UEFA much work to inform them about this, I understand that it's Legia's responsibility to check but honestly, when it comes to the smallest error you can make it is about the top of the list. It's ridiculous that rules don't leave any space for punishment different from walkover in this case. It's like they are created specifically to make your life difficult.

About the bolded part - surely now it is, I don't believe for a second you'd be equally certain about that before this happened. Basically in every other competition you are considered as serving suspension if you are currently registered player of a club and missing games, you don't have to be registered for the competition in league, domestic cups and most international games to serve suspension. Obviously people running football club should be more aware than this.

 

[IrishRick]

About the bolded part - surely now it is, I don't believe for a second you'd be equally certain about that before this happened. Basically in every other competition you are considered as serving suspension if you are currently registered player of a club and missing games, you don't have to be registered for the competition in league, domestic cups and most international games to serve suspension. Obviously people running football club should be more aware than this.

I would be certain. Mainly through playing Football Manager to be honest. You register 25 players for Europe at least 8 home grown in the country including 4 club grown players. Players under 21 do not need to be registered. With each qualification round you can make registration changes after each round up to 3 players I believe. Those who are suspended need to be registered for suspension to take place. Otherwise you could leave them out and still register 25. I learned this from a game yet in reality a club who are given the rules, have a leagal team etc. overlook all this. Yes its incredibly harsh but its not an unknown rule. If you strip it down to its basics its this. Have the club broken the rules? Have the club being punished according to the rules? And its yes to both. Its a huge pity for Legia and a huge let off for Celtic. I just wish it had happened against St. Pats

 

[Sarni]

I would be certain. Mainly through playing Football Manager to be honest. You register 25 players for Europe at least 8 home grown in the country including 4 club grown players. Players under 21 do not need to be registered. With each qualification round you can make registration changes after each round up to 3 players I believe. Those who are suspended need to be registered for suspension to take place. Otherwise you could leave them out and still register 25. I learned this from a game yet in reality a club who are given the rules, have a leagal team etc. overlook all this. Yes its incredibly harsh but its not an unknown rule. If you strip it down to its basics its this. Have the club broken the rules? Have the club being punished according to the rules? And its yes to both. Its a huge pity for Legia and a huge let off for Celtic. I just wish it had happened against St. Pats

Surely you would rather hope your team actually win the tie rather than hope for a paperwork error from your opponent? As a football fan I'd rather something like this never happened again even if it meant United winning CL because of this. I love football for what happens on the pitch.

 

[Shane88]

Surely you would rather hope your team actually win the tie rather than hope for a paperwork error from your opponent? As a football fan I'd rather something like this never happened again even if it meant United winning CL because of this. I love football for what happens on the pitch.

Well said. I don't get the "Oh well, Legia made an administrative error so tough shit." mindset that a lot of people seem to have.

It was a sporting contest and Celtic were annihilated. It's absolutely ridiculous that a player playing a few minutes when the tie was beyond doubt somehow grants Celtic a reprieve.

 

[Sarni]

Imagine the CL 2011 final turns out to be a walkover because one of the players on Barcelona bench was supposed to be suspended and they did not put his name in the match day protocol against Real Madrid in the previous round by accident. Barcelona absolutely batter us on the pitch, win 3-1 but the scoreline is void and we get a 3-0 walkover. Do you even celebrate that? Do you go to a parade?

Or another scenario. We win final in Moscow after penalty drama, go absolutely mental, celebrate all night only to wake up and realise one unused sub was suspended for the game because we did not put his name in the protocol against Roma two rounds before. It is walkover to Chelsea and they collect trophy.

And before someone tells me I'm crazy when I think United or Barca would make the same mistake - it can happen to anyone at any level, Milan forgot to register their player last season and only realised at last minute. Arsenal were reminded that Miyachi cannot participate minutes before announcing the team apparently. It is fecking awful that a game can be called void because of something like this.

 

[Mrs Smoker]

Imagine the CL 2011 final turns out to be a walkover because one of the players on Barcelona bench was supposed to be suspended...

God, that's a poor example.

 

[Moonred]

Imagine the CL 2011 final turns out to be a walkover because one of the players on Barcelona bench was supposed to be suspended and they did not put his name in the match day protocol against Real Madrid in the previous round by accident. Barcelona absolutely batter us on the pitch, win 3-1 but the scoreline is void and we get a 3-0 walkover. Do you even celebrate that? Do you go to a parade?

Or another scenario. We win final in Moscow after penalty drama, go absolutely mental, celebrate all night only to wake up and realise one unused sub was suspended for the game because we did not put his name in the protocol against Roma two rounds before. It is walkover to Chelsea and they collect trophy.

And before someone tells me I'm crazy when I think United or Barca would make the same mistake - it can happen to anyone at any level, Milan forgot to register their player last season and only realised at last minute. Arsenal were reminded that Miyachi cannot participate minutes before announcing the team apparently. It is fecking awful that a game can be called void because of something like this.

You are right and I am pretty sure any of the big clubs wouldn't have been handed a straightforward 3-0 loss that easily. Although, chances of these things happening are in anycase rare and to happen to a big big club is even rarer. But saying all that though, I do not blame Celtic, its just unfortunate for Legia.

 

[Pink Moon]

Even though simply being on the bench meant the rule had been breached, why the feck did Berg need to bring a sub on when he's winning 6-1 on agg with about 2 minutes left?

 

[Mrs Smoker]

Things like that happen all the time. Nothing surprising about late substitutions no matter the score.

 

[Brophs]

I haven't really followed the story but the punishment is in line with previous punishments for the same offence, isn't it?

 

[Mrs Smoker]

I haven't really followed the story but the punishment is in line with previous punishments for the same offence, isn't it?

Here's what happened once with 'ineligible' player...

However, in 2010, Uefa fined Debrecen £15,000 but rejected a protest from opponents Litex Lovech, who wanted the Hungarian side kicked out of the tournament for fielding an ineligible player.

Debrecen argued that they fielded Peter Mate in good faith as a substitute in Bulgaria when they were leading 4-1 on aggregate.
Uefa ruled that Debrecen had "no interest in fielding this player for the three last minutes of additional time, when the score was so clearly in its favour".

 

[Brophs]

Here's what happened once with 'ineligible' player...

Okay. So is that one exception that goes against the general position or do they have a genuine case?

 

[Pink Moon]

The Debrecen incident was an 'ineligible' player. The rules state that may result in a forfeit.

The Legia incident was a 'suspended' player. The rules state that must result in a forfeit.

 

[Sarni]

God, that's a poor example.

Well Barcelona beat us as comprehensively as Legia beat Celtic.

 

[Mrs Smoker]

The Debrecen incident was an 'ineligible' player. The rules state that may result in a forfeit.

The Legia incident was a 'suspended' player. The rules state that must result in a forfeit.

Yeah, so probably isn't even an exception.

Well Barcelona beat us as comprehensively as Legia beat Celtic.

Yeah, but it's Barcelona. I don't mind them being cheated out of their arses.

 

[Sarni]

Legia have appealed. They are using two different ways to go about it seems. They have pointed out a rule thay says that UEFA are in fact allowed to take circumstances under consideration and use a different penalty if it considered more adequate to the situation even if the rules had been broken.

On the other hand in another appeal they are going to point out UEFA breaking their own rules. While taking decision on Friday there was one member of comitee present - there have to be at least three. Both parties involved in the accusation should be allowed to offer their explanation - Legia's representatives were not allowed to speak with UEFA until after the decision has been made. There were a few different rules broken here and there in the process.

It won't go anywhere but it will be sort of funny to see that UEFA do not care about their rules as much as they want others to.

 

[Mrs Smoker]

Fight the power, Legia.


The decision came awfully fast really, they could've fast tracked it, and made an...administrative error?

 

[Pink Moon]

Hopefully UEFA tell Legia and their racist, nazi-loving ultra's where to go. They don't seem to have a problem with reading the rule book now, do they?

And Like I've said for the millionth time, they weren't disqualified from the tournament. They seem to think that is their punishment. If it were, they'd have a serious case for UEFA to reduce their punishment to something more fitting to the crime. As it is, their punishment is a 3-0 forfeit, which, conveniently, takes us through on away goals. Nothing more, nothing less. For UEFA to reduce that punishment to something lesser simply so Legia get reinstated would be disgraceful. It's such a basic and common rule. A forfeited match results in a 3-0 victory for the other side. They can't reduce that and simply fine them when ultimately they fielded a fecking suspended player.

If they win their appeal I'd love Celtic to appeal in turn. I'd also love Ludogorets to appeal the decision too. They're supposed to be seeded if Legia are in the tournament over Celtic. If Legia takes Celtic's place then Ludogorets have a much harder tie than they should have.

Edit: Normally appeals are a chance to prove or at least claim your innocence. Can Legia prove they're innocent? No. They've already admitted they're guilty. They broke UEFA rules! What is the purpose of their appeal other than a desperate attempt to tug on the heartstrings of UEFA. Would they be happy if UEFA changed their decision and, with absolutely no precedent whatsoever, ruled that it was not a 3-0 win for Celtic but a 2-0 win and Legia go through? Of course they would. So it's not the punishment they have an issue with. It's the fact it puts them out on away goals. Tough. fecking. Titty.

Administrative errors are normally just that. This wasn't even that so much as it was just sheer incompetence and not understanding the rules.

It's harsh on them, no doubt, but rules are rules. Rant over.

 

[Sarni]

Hopefully UEFA tell Legia and their racist, nazi-loving ultra's where to go. They don't seem to have a problem with reading the rule book now, do they?

And Like I've said for the millionth time, they weren't disqualified from the tournament. They seem to think that is their punishment. If it were, they'd have a serious case for UEFA to reduce their punishment to something more fitting to the crime. As it is, their punishment is a 3-0 forfeit, which, conveniently, takes us through on away goals. Nothing more, nothing less. For UEFA to reduce that punishment to something lesser simply so Legia get reinstated would be disgraceful. It's such a basic and common rule. A forfeited match results in a 3-0 victory for the other side. They can't reduce that and simply fine them when ultimately they fielded a fecking suspended player.

If they win their appeal I'd love Celtic to appeal in turn. I'd also love Ludogorets to appeal the decision too. They're supposed to be seeded if Legia are in the tournament over Celtic. If Legia takes Celtic's place then Ludogorets have a much harder tie than they should have.

Edit: Normally appeals are a chance to prove or at least claim your innocence. Can Legia prove they're innocent? No. They've already admitted they're guilty. They broke UEFA rules! What is the purpose of their appeal other than a desperate attempt to tug on the heartstrings of UEFA.

Administrative errors are normally just that. This wasn't even that so much as it was just sheer incompetence and not understanding the rules.

It's harsh on them, no doubt, but rules are rules.

Well, this was very unnecessary.

 

[Pink Moon]

Well, this was very unnecessary.

Am I wrong?

They've been fined by UEFA in the past for it. A quick google search shows numerous Nazi references within their support along with highly racist "white power" banners.

 

[Sarni]

Am I wrong?

Yes, to the very extreme. We are Polish, you won't find much Nazi love among us, seriously. Racism is not more of an issue here than it is anywhere else even if BBC would like you to believe otherwis but we have gone over that during Euro a lot and I don't want to do it again.

 

[Harmony Row]

Agree with your take on the matter, Pink Moon.

I asked earlier but can anybody clarify whether Legia have sacked members of staff because of this incident? I've read that on a couple of Celtic forums, but searching Google hasn't unearthed anything.

Would UEFA need to re-draw their European competitions if they cooperated with Legia's proposals (either of them)? That would never happen for obvious reasons, which makes me wonder why Boniek states that Platini was happy to allow Legia to progress if Celtic agreed to it (assuming that they'd need to draw the competitions again owing to seeding, etc).

 

[Pink Moon]

Yes, to the very extreme. We are Polish, you won't find much Nazi love among us, seriously. Racism is not more of an issue here than it is anywhere else even if BBC would like you to believe otherwis but we have gone over that during Euro a lot and I don't want to do it again.

I understand it's a touchy subject, obviously, but how do you explain the UEFA fines in the past as well as the photographic evidence of it?

 

[Sarni]

Agree with your take on the matter, Pink Moon.

I asked earlier but can anybody clarify whether Legia have sacked members of staff because of this incident? I've read that on a couple of Celtic forums, but searching Google hasn't unearthed anything.

Would UEFA need to re-draw their European competitions if they cooperated with Legia's proposals (either of them)? That would never happen for obvious reasons, which makes me wonder why Boniek states that Platini was happy to allow Legia to progress if Celtic agreed to it (assuming that they'd need to draw the competitions again owing to seeding, etc).

They won't let Legia back in, absolutely no chance of that whatsoever.

They have not dismissed anyone so far.

 

[Brophs]

Hopefully UEFA tell Legia and their racist, nazi-loving ultra's where to go. They don't seem to have a problem with reading the rule book now, do they?

And Like I've said for the millionth time, they weren't disqualified from the tournament. They seem to think that is their punishment. If it were, they'd have a serious case for UEFA to reduce their punishment to something more fitting to the crime. As it is, their punishment is a 3-0 forfeit, which, conveniently, takes us through on away goals. Nothing more, nothing less. For UEFA to reduce that punishment to something lesser simply so Legia get reinstated would be disgraceful. It's such a basic and common rule. A forfeited match results in a 3-0 victory for the other side. They can't reduce that and simply fine them when ultimately they fielded a fecking suspended player.

If they win their appeal I'd love Celtic to appeal in turn. I'd also love Ludogorets to appeal the decision too. They're supposed to be seeded if Legia are in the tournament over Celtic. If Legia takes Celtic's place then Ludogorets have a much harder tie than they should have.

Edit: Normally appeals are a chance to prove or at least claim your innocence. Can Legia prove they're innocent? No. They've already admitted they're guilty. They broke UEFA rules! What is the purpose of their appeal other than a desperate attempt to tug on the heartstrings of UEFA. Would they be happy if UEFA changed their decision and, with absolutely no precedent whatsoever, ruled that it was not a 3-0 win for Celtic but a 2-0 win and Legia go through? Of course they would. So it's not the punishment they have an issue with. It's the fact it puts them out on away goals. Tough. fecking. Titty.

Administrative errors are normally just that. This wasn't even that so much as it was just sheer incompetence and not understanding the rules.

It's harsh on them, no doubt, but rules are rules. Rant over.

Not really. Appealing as to the harshness of the punishment is just as common, no? Anyway. from what you've said, the fact it was a suspended player, as you've explained above, basically means UEFA are perfectly within their rights to point to previous applications of that rule and remove them from the competition. Harsh, but the rule doesn't appear to be written to take into account intent to gain an advantage (or, conversely, the pointlessness of the act that broke the rule) so I don't think they have much of a leg to stand on.

 

[Sarni]

I understand it's a touchy subject, obviously, but how do you explain the UEFA fines in the past as well as the photographic evidence of it?

They have a small group of cretins. They were mostly fined for flares and causing trouble, not related to racism or especially Nazism. They have done some stupid things mind which is why UEFA rightly keep their eye on them.

All Polish clubs have small bases of extremely stupid fans. You are talking about minority though, 99% Legia fans are excellent. They are one of the best in the country and this is coming from someone who lives in Kraków and goes to Wisła games regularly, I have no interest defending them but I will.

 

[Pink Moon]

Agree with your take on the matter, Pink Moon.

I asked earlier but can anybody clarify whether Legia have sacked members of staff because of this incident? I've read that on a couple of Celtic forums, but searching Google hasn't unearthed anything.

Would UEFA need to re-draw their European competitions if they cooperated with Legia's proposals (either of them)? That would never happen for obvious reasons, which makes me wonder why Boniek states that Platini was happy to allow Legia to progress if Celtic agreed to it (assuming that they'd need to draw the competitions again owing to seeding, etc).

Apparently they've the girl responsible. That comes from Celtic forums, like you say, so who knows as far as confirmation goes. I'd imagine whoever responsible probably was sacked given that they've even admitted they broke the rules.

I don't know if they'd re-draw the thing. When Sion got disqualified they never redrew anything and we just took their place in the groups (IIRC we should've had an easier group than we got).

It'd open up a huge can of worms though. UEFA would need to refund every Celtic fan who's booked up for Maribor as well as their fans coming here not to mention if it's a complete redraw they'd need to refund every fan of every team who's made travel arrangements.

 

[Pink Moon]

They have a small group of cretins. They were mostly fined for flares and causing trouble, not related to racism or especially Nazism.

All Polish clubs have small bases of extremely stupid fans. You are talking about minority though, 99% Legia fans are excellent. They are one of the best in the country.

No doubt. Their fans were great home and away.

 

[surf]

UEFA won't let Legia back in. Apart from anything else, it is not fair on Celtic's opponents in the next round.

 

[Sarni]

UEFA won't let Legia back in. Apart from anything else, it is not fair on Celtic's opponents in the next round.

They would be getting a weaker opposition on paper.

 

[IrishRick]

Surely you would rather hope your team actually win the tie rather than hope for a paperwork error from your opponent? As a football fan I'd rather something like this never happened again even if it meant United winning CL because of this. I love football for what happens on the pitch.

Obviously it should come down to two teams playing it out to see who is the better. However in this case they did make that error and got punished accordingly. The rules screwed em but yet those rules are followed by each and every other club. Why should Legia be made exempt of these rules? They made the mistake and while they completely outclassed Celtic it just so happens that they were the club that get to benefit. Everybody wants to see their team win on the pitch thats why we watch and love the game. But the rules are there for every club to follow and Legia were too stupid to double check their paperwork

 

[Sarni]

Obviously it should come down to two teams playing it out to see who is the better. However in this case they did make that error and got punished accordingly. The rules screwed em but yet those rules are followed by each and every other club. Why should Legia be made exempt of these rules? They made the mistake and while they completely outclassed Celtic it just so happens that they were the club that get to benefit. Everybody wants to see their team win on the pitch thats why we watch and love the game. But the rules are there for every club to follow and Legia were too stupid to double check their paperwork

Yep but you said you would rather it happened against St Patricks. It would be best if it did not happen at all because it utterly defies what football should be about first and foremost and, just my personal opinion on this but will probably be backed by some, rules should never be this harsh when it comes to a pure administrative error. Football should never be about paperwork.

I believe all of you would change your minds if your team was stripped of something they fought hard for in a similar manner. There would certainly be very few 'rules are rules' heroes then. I don't even care about Legia much, I am a Wisla fan and they normally hate one another, and this has very much disappointed me because I cannot stand watching distraught players who have done so well for the club to make it past Celtic only for it to be made void by a simple meaningless error. Football should be about them, not about correct documentation and immaculate administration.

 

[.Rossi]

Apparently they've the girl responsible. That comes from Celtic forums, like you say, so who knows as far as confirmation goes. I'd imagine whoever responsible probably was sacked given that they've even admitted they broke the rules.

I don't know if they'd re-draw the thing. When Sion got disqualified they never redrew anything and we just took their place in the groups (IIRC we should've had an easier group than we got).

It'd open up a huge can of worms though. UEFA would need to refund every Celtic fan who's booked up for Maribor as well as their fans coming here not to mention if it's a complete redraw they'd need to refund every fan of every team who's made travel arrangements.

Richard Keys likes this

 

[surf]

Yep but you said you would rather it happened against St Patricks. It would be best if it did not happen at all because it utterly defies what football should be about first and foremost and, just my personal opinion on this but will probably be backed by some, rules should never be this harsh when it comes to a pure administrative error. Football should never be about paperwork.

I believe all of you would change your minds if your team was stripped of something they fought hard for in a similar manner. There would certainly be very few 'rules are rules' heroes then. I don't even care about Legia much, I am a Wisla fan and they normally hate one another, and this has very much disappointed me because I cannot stand watching distraught players who have done so well for the club to make it past Celtic only for it to be made void by a simple meaningless error. Football should be about them, not about correct documentation and immaculate administration.

Regarding this last sentence, both parts are important. You have to get it right on and off the field.

 

[Baxter]

Hopefully UEFA tell Legia and their racist, nazi-loving ultra's where to go. They don't seem to have a problem with reading the rule book now, do they?

As a Celtic fan, it seems a bit funny to criticise a whole club for the actions of some supporters when Celtic have had a fair amount of trouble with stuff caused by their fans

 

[IrishRick]

Yep but you said you would rather it happened against St Patricks. It would be best if it did not happen at all because it utterly defies what football should be about first and foremost and, just my personal opinion on this but will probably be backed by some, rules should never be this harsh when it comes to a pure administrative error. Football should never be about paperwork.

I believe all of you would change your minds if your team was stripped of something they fought hard for in a similar manner. There would certainly be very few 'rules are rules' heroes then. I don't even care about Legia much, I am a Wisla fan and they normally hate one another, and this has very much disappointed me because I cannot stand watching distraught players who have done so well for the club to make it past Celtic only for it to be made void by a simple meaningless error. Football should be about them, not about correct documentation and immaculate administration.

Its not a meaningless error. The player should not have played at all. Yes its disappointed the better team didn't go through and obviously they are gutted. However your opinion that football should never be about paperwork is silly. All competitions have some form of rules and paperwork and for Legia to be unaware of it is frankly unforgivable. I said before they broke the rules and were caught. Once caught they were punished by those rules. We can come up with a million excuses and many reasons why it seems unfair. But thats the punishment for the crime. By saying football should not be about not about correct documentation and immaculate administration is ridiculous by that logic why not just ignore all suspensions and play on regardless, or start with 12 players, a bigger penalty box, a tiny pitch or whatever. There is a rule book that needs following. As for your claim how would we feel were it our team that was wronged I can testify you feel sick like when Henry handled against Ireland. We had the idiotic ideas of a 33rd team or a replay which I never supported. I was just distraught that my team were beaten that way. And rightly we were not the 33rd team or given a replay because to do so would set a stupid precedent. Legia can feel distraught and wronged but, unlike Ireland, they wronged themselves. Nobody forced their hand in this and now they just need to take the punishment. If UEFA change the punishment thats great but I can guarantee this they won't make the same mistake again. That proves that the punishment is severe enough to ensure it won't happem again

 

[Pink Moon]

As a Celtic fan, it seems a bit funny to criticise a whole club for the actions of some supporters when Celtic have had a fair amount of trouble with stuff caused by their fans

Have Celtic had banners with "white power" written on them? Nazi flags? Black faces and Israeli flags crossed out?

 

[No11]

Hopefully it will lead to further embarassment for the team and their great fans.

 

[Sarni]

Its not a meaningless error. The player should not have played at all. Yes its disappointed the better team didn't go through and obviously they are gutted. However your opinion that football should never be about paperwork is silly. All competitions have some form of rules and paperwork and for Legia to be unaware of it is frankly unforgivable. I said before they broke the rules and were caught. Once caught they were punished by those rules. We can come up with a million excuses and many reasons why it seems unfair. But thats the punishment for the crime. By saying football should not be about not about correct documentation and immaculate administration is ridiculous by that logic why not just ignore all suspensions and play on regardless, or start with 12 players, a bigger penalty box, a tiny pitch or whatever. There is a rule book that needs following. As for your claim how would we feel were it our team that was wronged I can testify you feel sick like when Henry handled against Ireland. We had the idiotic ideas of a 33rd team or a replay which I never supported. I was just distraught that my team were beaten that way. And rightly we were not the 33rd team or given a replay because to do so would set a stupid precedent. Legia can feel distraught and wronged but, unlike Ireland, they wronged themselves. Nobody forced their hand in this and now they just need to take the punishment. If UEFA change the punishment thats great but I can guarantee this they won't make the same mistake again. That proves that the punishment is severe enough to ensure it won't happem again

You have to look at what sort of crime is commited and fit the punishment to the crime. For failing to register a player for two games in a preliminary round then putting him in the squad for another game because you honestly think he is not suspended anymore you are basically out of the competition. It's like putting you in jail because you did not fill some paperwork at customs while returning from a foreign country because you thought you did not have to if you were not importing anything.

As for the bolded part, yet another ridiculous exaggeration. You are basically trying to tell that every breaking of a rules is the same. You are telling me that forgetting to submit your tax documents in time because you messed up deadline and thought it was on Monday not Friday is the same as murdering the whole family.

Good for you if you reckon it wasn't meaningless and the extent of punishment was fitting, we see football differently and won't agree on anything here. If Legia had fielded a player who was sent off in the previous game because they forgot or did it deliberately, I would not be discussing it. It was an honest mistake by a single person because she were foolish enough not to understand the rules, no one got hurt, they did not do it for their benefit because there was absolutely NOTHING to be gained from that. Obviously they deserved to be punished but the fact that UEFA had left no space for any other punishment bar the heaviest of them is ridiculous. You can argue with rules, I don't think that everything that is written as law makes complete sense both in football and in real life and in this instance, at least for me, it clearly doesn't because of how it is formulated.