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UEFA makes provisions for Sion reinstatement

All of the options would require substantial changes to Group I where Celtic took Sion's place after the Swiss club were kicked out of the competition by UEFA for fielding ineligible players in a preliminary round tie against the Scottish club.

UEFA said the first option would be to cancel all the previous matches played so far in the group which also features Atletico Madrid, Udinese and Stade Rennes.

"Eight additional matches would have to be played, starting at the end of November and finishing in February 2012," said UEFA.

"The other options, mainly valid in the case of a late reintegration, assume that FC Sion could be integrated directly into the round of 32, following a qualifying playoff round still to be defined."

UEFA added: "All the scenarios studied by UEFA offer the best possibility of reintegrating FC Sion while preserving the interests of all other clubs, limiting damages to the competition, and offering enough time to ensure a safe organisation of these additional games.

"f course all these scenarios have one thing in common, and that is a strong impact on the other clubs in the competition," said UEFA in a statement.

"UEFA therefore underlines the fact that the other clubs may accept these possibilities only after a decision made by the Court Arbitration for Sport (CAS), as CAS is the only authority they have all accepted as competent to rule on sporting matters in the UEFA Europa League."