Uefa overturns Porto ban

Uefa's appeal body has overturned the decision to exclude Porto from next season's Champions League.

The original decision was taken by Uefa's disciplinary committee, who will now get the chance to examine the case again after their initial ruling was dismissed in light of new evidence.
 
A Uefa statement read: "The Uefa appeals body met today to hear the appeal filed by Porto against the decision taken by the Uefa control and disciplinary body on Wednesday, June 4th, in which the Portuguese club were not admitted to the 2008/09 Uefa Champions League.

"The appeals body decided, in the light of new evidence submitted in relation to domestic Portuguese appeals procedures, to refer the matter back to the control and disciplinary body for reassessment."

The statement continued: "Having listened to representatives of Porto, the Portuguese Football Federation, Benfica and Vitoria, as well as Uefa, the appeals body decided to annul the challenged decision and to refer the matter back to the control and disciplinary body for reassessment.

"The control and disciplinary body will meet next week to take a decision on Porto's admission to the 2008/09 Uefa Champions League. The date of the meeting will be communicated in due course."

The proposed ban came after a lengthy investigation known as Apito Dourado, or Golden Whistle, into alleged bribery by Porto of referees in matches in the 2003-04 season. The probe has been headline news in Portugal for several years.

Porto won the Champions League that season under the guidance of Jose Mourinho but the current Inter Milan manager was not implicated in the investigation.