UEFA Has Banned Two Clubs From Competing in Europe For Seven Years

Two European clubs are currently serving seven-year bans from all UEFA competitions due to a series of disciplinary breaches.

UEFA has enforced bans on a number of football clubs in recent years, and the country of Russia as a whole.

All Russian clubs are currently barred from entering UEFA competitions - a verdict that was passed down shortly after the country's illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2024.

Two clubs from other countries are also serving bans, with one team suspended from UEFA tournaments for a total of seven years back in 2021.

Latvian club FK Ventspils were kicked out of UEFA competitions after European football's governing body charged them with fraud, bribery and/or corruption, and 'violation of the integrity of matches and competitions'.

More specifically, UEFA's investigation centred around allegations of match-fixing during a Europa League qualifying match between Ventspils and Ligue 1 side Bordeaux - who were not implicated in any way - in July 2018.

Ventspils players line up before a Europa League qualifying fixture against Vitoria SC in 2019 (Image: Getty)

Meanwhile, Ventspils president Adlan Shishkanov was charged with the same offences and banned for life by UEFA's Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body.

Sports manager Nikolajs Djakins, meanwhile, was handed a four-year ban following the same charges.

Ventspils' UEFA-wide ban - the governing body requested that the officials' bans be served worldwide - is up to and including the 2027/28 season.

However, the ban effectively no longer applies because Ventspils folded in July 2021 - a month after the ban was announced - due to financial issues, and were subsequently liquidated in January 2024.

A phoenix club, JFK Ventspils, was set up later that year and competes in Latvia's second division.

It is unclear as to whether the ban applies to the new club, who would either need to win the Latvian Cup or gain promotion to the Latvian Higher League and then finish in the top three next season for any ban to be effected.

There is a second team also serving a seven-year ban from UEFA competitions, with Montenegrin side FK Arsenal Tivat currently suspended for match-fixing.

They were charged with breaching regulations relating to 'general principles of conduct' and 'integrity of matches and competitions and match-fixing'.

UEFA investigated a 2023 Europa Conference League tie against Armenian side Alashkert, resulting in an initial 10-year suspension for the club and a lifetime suspension for Arsenal Tivat defender Nikola Celebic.

Team-mates Cetko Manojlovic, Radule Zivkovic and Dusan Paletic were all handed 10-year bans, though Paletic's ban was reversed after appeal.

The club's ban was also amended to seven years following a partially successful appeal, up to and including the 2031/32 season.