Tottenham 'disappointed' as Europe campaign ends after Uefa award Rennes victory

Spurs were unable to fulfil December 9 fixture due to Covid-19 cases and no agreement could be reached for rearranged date

Tottenham manager Antonio Conte is struggling with a Covid-19 outbreak in the squad. PA

Tottenham Hotspur's European campaign for the season came to an abrupt end after Uefa on Monday awarded Rennes a 3-0 victory in their final Europa Conference League group match.

The governing body's disciplinary committee decided to award Rennes the win, confirming the French team and Dutch club Vitesse Arnhem will advance from Group G.

Eight Tottenham players and five members of staff had tested posted for the virus before the match against Rennes on December 9. The game was postponed and no replacement date could be found by the December 31 deadline.

"The Uefa Appeals Body took the following decision: to declare the 2021/22 UEFA Europa Conference League group stage match between Tottenham Hotspur FC and Stade Rennais FC, that was initially scheduled to be played on December 9, 2021, as forfeited by Tottenham Hotspur FC, who is therefore deemed to have lost the match 0-3," read the UEFA statement.

Spurs have been hit hard by the fresh wave of Covid-19, having had to postpone league games against Brighton and Leicester.

According to Uefa rules, a match is supposed to be played as long as both teams have 13 fit outfield players and a goalkeeper.

"We are disappointed by the ruling of the Uefa Appeals Body and the refusal to allow more time for the match to be rescheduled," Tottenham said in a statement.

"We have to accept this ruling, however, and our focus now turns to the competitions we remain in."

Rennes' statement on the eve of the cancelled fixture said that in a video conference with them and Uefa, Tottenham "did not want to announce the number of players affected by Covid when the rule states that a match must be played as long as the team has 13 outfielders and a keeper". They accused Tottenham of causing "London fog".

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