Uefa Excludes Porto From Champions League

Uefa has banned Porto from next season's Champions League because of alleged bribery of referees in the 2003-04 season, the Portuguese club said.

Porto said it would try to overturn the decision through Uefa's appeals body, but gave no further details.

"It was notified today by the Controls and Disciplinary body of Uefa that Porto will not be admitted to the 2008-09 campaign of the Uefa Champions League," Porto said.

The decision comes after a lengthy investigation known as "Apito Dourado," or Golden Whistle, into alleged bribery by Porto of referees in three matches in the 2003-04 season.

Last month the Disciplinary Commission of the Professional Portuguese Football League stripped Porto of six points and fined the club 150,000 euros ($234,000) over the case.

Porto's management decided not to appeal against that decision on the grounds that the club had a substantial lead and the six-points punishment did not affect final standings. Porto won last season's Portuguese title for the third time in a row, 14 points ahead of Sporting. Their president Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa has been suspended for two years by the Disciplinary Commission and fined 10,000 Euros in the case.

Jose Mourinho, who joined Internazionale on Tuesday, was the Porto coach in the 2003-04 season when his side won the Champions League and Portuguese title. His name has not been mentioned during the investigation.