Soccer:Trabzonspor will replace Fenerbahce in the Champions League group stage draw tomorrow after the Turkish champions were forced to withdraw due to an ongoing match-fixing investigation.

Uefa confirmed the decision on Wednesday night, hours after the Turkish Football Federation announced they had barred Fenerbahce from playing in the Champions League.

"The Uefa emergency panel decided to replace Fenerbahce SK with Trabzonspor AS, runners-up in the 2010/11 Turkish league, in tomorrow's draw for the Uefa Champions League group stage," a Uefa statement said.

The decision means that Trabzonspor's scheduled Europa League qualifier against Athletic Bilbao has been cancelled, with the Spanish club progressing automatically.

There had been a suggestion that Arsenal could be given the additional place if they failed to win their tie against Udinese based on the Uefa co-efficient rankings, but tonight's announcement ruled out that possibility.

According to a statement on the TFF website, Uefa wrote to the federation yesterday to demand Fenerbahce's withdrawal, threatening wider disciplinary action against the TFF should they fail to do so.

The letter was forwarded to Fenerbahce, who declined to withdraw.

"In the face of this development, on August 24 an extraordinary meeting of the board of directors was held to discuss the threat of the Turkish Football Federation being exposed to severe disciplinary sanctions if Fenerbahce took part in the UEFA Champions League this season, and it was decided to bar them from participating," the statement said.

Fenerbahce were crowned league champions last term, pipping Trabzonspor to the Super Lig title with a dramatic 4-3 win at Sivasspor on the final day.

The final standings remain official, but Fenerbahce president Aziz Yildirim is one of more than 30 people held in custody pending trial on the matter.

Tonight, Uefa said they could not allow a club which had been involved in match fixing to take part in continental competition.