UEFA HAVE decided to excluded Porto from next season's Champions League, saying the Portuguese club tried to influence the outcome of matches by bribing referees in the 2003-04 season.
Porto said in a statement they would appeal against the decision. The club gave no further details and its officials were not immediately available to comment.
Uefa's decision comes after a lengthy investigation known as Apito Dourado, or Golden Whistle, into alleged bribery by Porto of referees in matches in the 2003-04 season. The probe has been headline news in Portugal for several years.
Uefa said in a statement on its website the case meant Porto broke its rules that ban "any activity aimed at arranging or influencing the outcome of a match at national or international level".
Last month the Disciplinary Commission of the Professional Portuguese Football League stripped Porto of six points and fined the club €150,000 after a probe of two matches in 2003-04.
Porto decided not to appeal against that decision on the grounds the club had a substantial lead and the six-point punishment did not affect final standings.
Jose Mourinho, who joined Inter Milan 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.
Boavista, who won the Portuguese championship in 2001, were also investigated and were relegated last month to the second division and fined €180,000.
Meanwhile, the Romanian Soccer Federation (FRF) docked Steaua Bucharest seven points and Universitatea Cluj six yesterday after finding some officials and players guilty of bribery.
FRF started an investigation after Romania's anticorruption prosecutors launched a criminal inquiry into Steaua owner Gigi Becali and Universitatea president Anton Dobos last month.
Prosecutors accused Becali of offering €1.7 million to Dobos and several players to do their utmost to stop title contenders CFR Cluj in the last round of the season.
All have denied wrongdoing.