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Author: WiSK
Date: 10-08-2001, 11:42

Extract below from Soccernet. Can anyone confirm this to be true? Why should Celtic get this bonus if they win, but Panathinaikos (for instance) not get it?

UEFA press chief Rob Faulkner confirmed: 'In simple terms, there will be four pots of eight teams at the draw in Monaco.

'Celtic were down among the 90s in the co-efficients table, whereas Ajax were in the top 30.

'Provided Celtic complete the job back in Scotland, they will then assume Ajax's coefficient ranking for the purposes of the draw - which means they could well end up in the second pot of seeds as opposed to the fourth.

'But that is just for this year's Champions League; their co-efficient at the start of next season would still take account of results for club and country over the five previous seasons,' he added.

Author: sr_sofisticacao
Date: 10-08-2001, 18:04

It's not bending the rules.
That's the rule. For instance:
FC Porto in the second qualifying round of the Champions League played against Barry Town.
The 3rd qualifying roud draw was made before one knew about the result of that 2nd qualifyng round. But nevertheless, Barry Town would take FC Porto's place as a seeded club in the 3rd round.
I think it's the same philosophy here. A team that beats another better placed in the ranking gets it's ranking.
At least I think that's the rule. That goes for any team.
But I must say I disagree with it completely. Even in the qualifying rounds, but much more in the league stages.

Author: WiSK
Date: 10-08-2001, 22:41

What you say is true for the qualifying rounds only. It is not true for the group rounds of the CL and it never has been - just look back through the archives if you feel you need to check.

My point is that Soccernet claim that UEFA will bend the rules for Celtic. So I am asking three questions. 1) Is it true what Soccernet are saying? 2) Is it only Celtic that gets this benefit? 3) If it is, then what is the precedent for this?

Author: kurt
Date: 11-08-2001, 10:56

I hope it is not true. I understand the uefa does it for the qualifying round, first the have to draw the teams a few days before the match, so the teams can make arrangements, hotel, travelling, and second the seeded teams in the first and second round has always won their qualification in the past. Not all the teams, but the teams that are still seeded in a higher round, now, i think Anderlecht, Galatasaray , rangers and FC porto were seeded in second round, if they failed to reach the third round, that will mean the draw was to soon, but they all won.
If celtic goes in pot 2, this would be unfair, than must Lille also get in pot 1, that is rediculous.

Author: WiSK
Date: 11-08-2001, 12:56

I notice that absolutely no other football website (that I read) has picked up on this story. So I'm guessing that Soccernet just made it up. Watch out for another 'exclusive' next week that tells the helpless readers that UEFA have changed their minds.

Journalists spreading this kind of misinformation makes me very angry. We're all grown up enough to know that, for example, tabloid transfer speculation should be taken with a pinch of salt. However, in the case of stories like these, the reader usually has little previous experience with this kind of information. That gives the journalist an awful lot of power to corrupt the truth.

It's frustrating to think that Celtic supporters are still reading this and gaining hope from it. If I write to Soccernet, they will ignore me. Perhaps I should try contacting the official Celtic website. But I don't know if it's worth it.

Author: bert.kassies
Date: 11-08-2001, 19:12

Just for the record, I did put the story in my "News and Rumours" section. See Celtic handed seedings boost.Even though I think it's not true. It's a nice rumour, anyway.

But I still remember the last change in the seeding rules. It was published first in Scottish newspapers. And started with: "Rangers have been handed a giant Champions League boost with UEFA's decision to overhaul next season's seeding system". See Gers land UEFA seeding bonus. Gives me a weird deja vu feeling.

Re: UEFA to bend the rules for Celtic?
Author: kenny_61 Date: 19-08-2001, 19:00	The Scottish press have also rubbished this report. Just the same as the report that Rangers and Celtic could be drawn against each other in the 3rd Qualifying round, complete nonsense.