Spurs get Uefa bye

Tottenham have moved a step closer to this year's Uefa Cup final in Glasgow after receiving a bye into the last 16 of the competition.

Spurs were due to play Feyenoord on February 15th but the Dutch club were ejected from the tournament following crowd trouble earlier in the season against French side Nancy.

Subject to a possible appeal by Feyenoord to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Martin Jol's men will now face Braga or Parma for a place in the quarter-finals of Europe's second-tier competition.

A Uefa statement read: "Tottenham have received a bye into the UEFA Cup round of 16 following the exclusion of opponents Feyenoord from the competition."

Uefa's other likely option was to order Spurs to play Wisla Krakow, who finished behind Feyenoord in the group stage.

While Tottenham will lose revenue from gate receipts and television money, they gain prize money for getting closer to this season's final.

Jol's men moved a step closer to ending their eight-year wait for a trophy, the day after their hopes of reaching the Carling Cup final were dented by Julio Baptista earning Arsenal a 2-2 draw in the semi-final first leg at White Hart Lane.

Today's decision gives the club more recovery time in their hectic programme, although it offers a spare week for the Premiership clash against Everton which requires rescheduling.

Jol had spoken earlier in the week about expecting compensation for missing out on the Feyenoord trip.

"My chairman thinks that, if we want to play in Europe, we should play in Europe," he said. "He's right because it was a big tie against Feyenoord and hopefully we'll get some compensation but other people may think differently."

Feyenoord are likely to take action after Uefa appealed against their independent disciplinary tribunal's original sentence of a suspended two-match stadium ban.

"Based on the facts, we do not feel that we should be punished," Feyenoord financial manager Onno Jacobs said.

"If there has to be a punishment, it should not, in our opinion, be in this form. We have thought about cutting our losses, but the predominant feeling is that the club has been wronged."