Legia Warsaw's Champions League appeal bid fails

Legia Warsaw's appeal against expulsion from the Champions League has been dismissed by Uefa, meaning Celtic will remain in the competition.

The Polish club were punished for fielding a suspended player in their third qualifying round tie with Celtic.

The Scottish champions were reinstated for the play-off round and drawn to face Maribor, with Legia consigned to a Europa League play-off with Aktobe.

Legia intend to take their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

"The appeal lodged by the Polish club was rejected and, therefore, the original decision of the Uefa Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body is confirmed," Uefa said in a statement.

Midfielder Bartosz Bereszynski was due to serve a three-match European ban at the start of this season and missed the club's two-legged tie against St Patrick's Athletic in the second qualifying round, and the 4-1 first-leg victory over Celtic.

Bereszynski's participation ultimately cost Legia Warsaw their Champions League place

He came on as a substitute towards the end of Legia's 2-0 second-leg win.

However, it emerged that Bereszynski had not been registered in the Polish club's squad for the games against St Pats and therefore the matches did not count towards his suspension.

As a result, Celtic were handed a 3-0 'walkover' win for the second leg, taking them through on away goals.

Legia appealed on the basis of three separate Uefa regulations and made reference to "the objective and subjective aspects of the offence; in cases where all aspects of the offence have been revealed by the party charged and after taking into account both aggravating and mitigating circumstances".

They had hoped to have the punishment scaled down, nullified or suspended.

Celtic's Champions League play-off matches are due to take place on 20 and 26 August, with the first leg in Maribor.

Legia's Europa League play-off with Kazakhstani side Aktobe will begin on 21 August, with the return leg in Poland a week later.

Uefa statement in full

"The UEFA Appeals Body met yesterday following an appeal by Legia Warszawa against the decision taken by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body on 8 August. "The appeal lodged by the Polish club was rejected and, therefore, the original decision of the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body is confirmed. "The Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body had sanctioned Legia for fielding a suspended player (Article 18 of the Regulations of the UEFA Champions League, 2014/15 competition, and Article 21 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations, 2014 edition) in the 2014/15 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round return leg against Celtic FC in Edinburgh on 6 August. That match has been declared as a forfeit, meaning Legia lost 3-0."