Celtic reinstated into the Champions League after Legia Warsaw were found guilty of fielding ineligible player

Legia Warsaw right-back Bartosz Bereszy?ski

In a remarkable turn of events, Celtic will play in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League despite losing 1-6 on aggregate to Legia Warsaw after Uefa followed the letter of the law regarding the Polish club fielding an ineligible player. Celtic lost the first leg 1-4 away and the second 0-2 at home.

If an ineligible player takes part the UEFA’s disciplinary regulations state “as long as the opposing team files a protest”, the match may be termed as a forfeit.

Uefa’s ruling means that the second leg will be treated as a forfeit by Warsaw giving the Scottish Champions a 3-0 win and a safe passage to the Champions League on away goals after the revised aggregate being 4-4.

Uefa confirms #Celtic are back in the #ChampionsLeague after Legia Warsaw are expelled for fielding an ineligible player

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 8, 2014

Polish full-back Bartosz Bereszy?ski came on in the 86th minute of the second leg between the two sides with his club already leading 2-0 but had apparently not completing a three-match-ban after getting a red card last season. He didn’t appear in the first leg 4-1 win but was apparently wasn’t registered for it thereby excluding the match from his suspension list.

Warsaw’s best performance in the UEFA Champions league is a semi-final finish in 1970 and with them lying 10th on the Polish league table it is to be seen when they make their next appearance in the competition.

The club will play Europa League Football this season.

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