Being kicked out of a major tournament isn’t something that happens very often in football. In fact, it’s an incredibly rare event, but it has happened.
From match fixing scandals, to financial foolishness, to plain stupidity, here are 10 times clubs were kicked out of various competitions.
1 Club Leon (2025) Denied place in expanded Club World Cup
FIFA expanded their Club World Cup to include 32 teams from 2025, but Mexican side Club Leon were booted out of the competition after falling foul of the rules regarding multi-club ownership.
They had qualified via winning the CONCACAF Champions Cup in 2023, with rivals Pachuca – who are also owned by Grupo Pachuca – winning the tournament a year later.
With these clubs unable to participate in the same competition, Leon were eventually booted out. FIFA created a play-off match between MLS outfit LAFC and Mexican side Club America to decide which team will take their place.
2 Juventus (2006) Relegated to Serie B
The Calcipoli scandal shook Italian football, but no club was more affected by the consequences than Juventus. Uncovered in May 2006, it was a major sports controversy in Italy’s Serie A and Serie B football leagues. It involved several clubs, executives and football bodies, including Juventus, Fiorentina, Lazio, Milan and Reggina.
The scandal was revealed through telephone tappings, exposing relations between club executives and referee organisations during the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons, with accusations of referee selection to favour specific clubs.
Juventus, the league champions, were severely penalised, being stripped of the 2004/05 Serie A title, relegated to Serie B, and downgraded to last place in the 2005/06 season.
While popularly known as a match-fixing scandal, no match-fixing violations were found for Juventus in intercepted calls. The club was absolved of wrongdoing, but sporting executives Luciano Moggi and Antonio Giraudo received lifetime bans.
A subsequent investigation implicated other clubs, though they weren’t put on trial due to the statute of limitations.
Legal battles ensued, with damage claims and appeals, leading to controversy and ongoing debates. Juventus returned to Serie A, eventually dominating with a record nine consecutive league titles.
3 Marseille (1994) Relegated to Ligue 2
After winning the Champions League the season before, Marseille were kicked out of Ligue 1 in 1994 after a bribery scandal that changed French football forever. The French football bribery scandal, known as Affaire VA-OM, unfolded during the 1992/93 French Ligue 1 season in a match between Valenciennes and Olympique de Marseille.
Marseille president Bernard Tapie and general manager Jean-Pierre Bernès sought to influence the game by bribing Valenciennes players, including Jorge Burruchaga, Jacques Glassmann and Christophe Robert.
The aim was to ensure Marseille’s players remained fresh for the upcoming UEFA Champions League final against Milan. Glassmann refused the bribe, exposing the scandal. Despite winning the match and the league title, Marseille faced severe consequences.
The scandal led to Marseille being stripped of the title, but runners-up Paris Saint-Germain declined to be named champions, resulting in no official winner for the 1992/93 season. Tapie, Bernès, Burruchaga, Jean-Jacques Eydelie and Robert were convicted of corruption in subsequent trials.
Tapie and Eydelie served jail terms, while Bernès, Burruchaga, and Robert received suspended sentences. The aftermath included Marseille’s relegation to Division 2 for the 1994/95 season due to financial difficulties. Glassmann, who refused the bribe, was honoured with the 1995 FIFA Fair Play Award.
4 Ismaily (2019) Kicked out of CAF Champions League
In 2019, Egyptian club Ismaily were disqualified from the competition following the disruption of their fixture against Club Africain.
The disqualification stemmed from Ismaily fans hurling stones and water bottles at match officials and players from the visiting Tunisian club, leading referee Neant Alioum to call for the teams to retreat to the changing rooms during stoppage time, with Club Africain leading 2-1.
CAF’s decision to expel Ismaily from the competition parallels a previous disqualification of Algerian side Entente Sportive de Setif in 2016 after a similar episode against Mamelodi Sundowns. As a result of Ismaily’s expulsion, their results in Group C were nullified.
The club was eventually reinstated after CAF overturned the decision, stating there was no evidence of an invasion or targeted aggression towards the visiting team.
5 Fenerbahce & Besiktas (2013) Banned from European football
Turkish football clubs Fenerbahce and Besiktas faced UEFA sanctions following a domestic match-fixing scandal from 2011. UEFA banned Fenerbahce from European football for two seasons and imposed a suspended third-season ban.
Besiktas received a one-season ban from UEFA competitions. Both clubs were implicated in a 2011 Turkish league scandal, leading to convictions for 93 individuals, including Fenerbahce chairman Aziz Yildirim. Yildirim received over six years in prison but was released pending an appeal.
The UEFA disciplinary panel considered evidence over several months and ruled that Fenerbahce would miss the upcoming Champions League and any subsequent European competitions. Besiktas, implicated in the 2011 Turkish Cup final, were excluded from the next Europa League.
The Turkish Football Federation had previously imposed bans on players and officials but took no action against clubs involved in the scandal.
6 Lazio & Milan (1980) Relegated to Serie B
After a match-fixing scandal, Milan and Lazio were relegated to Serie B, while three Serie A and two Serie B clubs faced five-point deductions. The Italian Football Federation banned 20 players, half of whom had represented the Italian national team.
Notably, Paolo Rossi, a key figure in the Azzurri team that won the 1982 World Cup, received a reduced two-year sentence. Milan’s president, Felice Colombo, was initially banned for life but later received a six-year suspension.
The scandal originated in the state-run Totocalcio competition era, leading a struggling merchant, Massimo Cruciani, to approach a restaurant owner, Alvaro Trinca, with a match-fixing scheme. The Totonero black market in football betting facilitated their plan.
Despite facing heavy losses, Cruciani and Trinca filed a complaint, leading to arrests and subsequent sanctions by the Italian Football Federation, casting a dark shadow over Italian football.
7 Real Madrid (2015) Disqualified from Copa del Rey
Real Madrid were disqualified from the Copa del Rey in 2015 for fielding an ineligible player, Denis Cheryshev, during the round-of-32 match against Cadiz on December 2. Cheryshev scored the opening goal in a 3-1 victory, but it was later revealed that he should have been serving a one-match suspension.
Despite Real Madrid’s appeals, the Spanish Football Federation maintained its decision. The competition judge acknowledged that Cheryshev was not personally notified about his ban, a crucial requirement for the suspension to take effect.
Real Madrid president Florentino Perez insisted that the club received no communication from the federation regarding Cheryshev’s suspension and vowed to take the matter to appeals and the arbitration court. Cheryshev had incurred a one-game ban after receiving his third yellow card in the 2014/15 Copa del Rey campaign while on loan at Villarreal.
8 5 Armenian football clubs (2023) Massive Armenian match-fixing scandal
This match-fixing scandal was so audacious, we can’t help but wonder how these clubs thought they would get away with it. The Armenian Football Federation (FFA) has just suspended the country’s second tier and disqualified five teams due to evidence of their involvement in match-fixing.
Around 45 individuals, including club owners, players, and coaches, have received life bans, with an additional 13 individuals banned for varying periods for their roles in match manipulation. The FFA cited “undeniable evidence” from international organisations and law enforcement agencies for its decision.
Club owners with Russian passports, Russian players and coaches, as well as Ukrainian, Latvian and Belarusian footballers, were reportedly among those banned. Teams such as Lokomotiv Yerevan, Aragats, Torpedo Yerevan and Masis were disqualified from the championship following suspicious results, including scorelines like 12-0, 0-12, 1-8, 9-2, 0-7, 0-8, and 8-2.
FC Yerevan, which had withdrawn from the 2019/20 Premier League due to financial and technical problems, were also disqualified for match-fixing.
9 Parma (2015) Relegated to Serie D
Parma used to be a real force in Italian football. Players like Hernan Crespo, Fabio Cannavaro and Gianluigi Buffon were just a few of the greats to wear their beautiful kits. Unfortunately, in 2015, it all came crumbling down for the old giants.
The two-time UEFA Cup winners were relegated to the fourth tier of Italian football due to their inability to secure a new owner. The club declared bankruptcy and had been seeking a buyer to address their financial troubles.
Parma’s relegation followed a series of financial challenges, including a late tax payment that led to their exclusion from the Europa League during the 2014/15 season.
10 Rangers Relegated to Scottish Third Division
In 2012, Rangers as we knew it ceased to exist. They had to start anew from the fourth tier after a financial crisis led to their expulsion from the Scottish Premier League.
The decision by Scottish Football League clubs marked a significant downturn for the Gers, who faced administration before a takeover led by Charles Green.
Rangers had initially wanted to join the second tier, but 25 out of 30 clubs voted for them to begin at the bottom of the footballing hierarchy in Scotland. This move contrasted sharply with Rangers’ historical prominence and average attendance of over 45,000 at their Ibrox stadium.
The club have since made their way back to the top of Scottish football, winning their first title since their relegation under Steven Gerrard in 2020/21.