Spurs out of Europe after Uefa awards Rennes 3-0 win for cancelled game
Tottenham are out of the Europa Conference League after Uefa awarded Rennes a 3-0 victory for the match called off because of a Covid outbreak at Spurs.
Tottenham were unable to find an alternative date for the match before the cut-off point at the end of this month, and the decision means they finish third in their group behind Rennes and Vitesse. The club said they were disappointed at the outcome.
Spurs failed to persuade the Premier League to postpone their match scheduled at Leicester last Thursday to allow them to play Rennes. The game at the King Power Stadium was then called off because of a Covid outbreak at Leicester.
Rennes were furious that Tottenham announced the night before the teams’ match was due to go ahead that Covid had forced its postponement. “This lack of fair play is all the more flagrant as Tottenham confirmed by email early this afternoon that the match would be held before informing us of their intention not to play after we landed at London City airport,” they said.
Tottenham say they were left with no choice because of a Covid outbreak which forced the temporary closure of their training ground.
Uefa said the chairman of its appeals body had decided to declare the match “as forfeited by Tottenham Hotspur FC, who is therefore deemed to have lost the match 0-3 in accordance with Annex J.3.1 to the regulations of the Uefa Europa Conference League”.
A Tottenham spokesperson said: “We are disappointed by the ruling of the Uefa appeals body and the refusal to allow more time for the match to be rescheduled. We have to accept this ruling, however, and our focus now turns to the competitions we remain in.”
Spurs are due to play a Carabao Cup quarter-final at home to West Ham on Wednesday, face Morecambe in the third round of the FA Cup at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on 9 January and are pushing for a top-four Premier League finish.