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CELTIC face an agonising 24-hour wait before discovering if UEFA will stand by their decision to reinstate Ronny Deila’s team to the Champions League.

Record Sport can reveal European football’s governing body will listen to an appeal from Legia Warsaw tomorrow at its Nyon HQ, as the Poles attempt to overturn the ruling which saw them crash out due to a clerical blunder.

Legia – who were KO’d for fielding an ineligible player in the second leg of their qualifier against Celtic despite a 6-1 aggregate win – had been expected to drag UEFA into the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a legal move which might not have been resolved until next week at the earliest.

But with time ticking down until Celtic face Maribor in Slovenia next Wednesday, the issue will now be fast-tracked to go in front of UEFA’s own internal appeals body.

This was confirmed last night by UEFA’s chief of press Pedro Pinto.

Speaking exclusively to Record Sport, Pinto said: “Legia have now appealed and our appeals body is going to have a look at it on Wednesday morning. The clubs should be notified by Thursday at the latest.

“If the initial decision is upheld then Legia can still take it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. That is still a possibility but Wednesday is the most important day now.

“UEFA’s position is that unfortunately an administrative mistake was made and the rules are the rules even if they can appear to be a bit harsh.”

Legia believe they have been excessively punished, losing out on a potential £20million jackpot, for throwing on sub Bartosz Bereszynski in the dying minutes of the second leg.

And a statement on their website last night confirmed they hope the punishment will be watered down or even withdrawn.

Polish sources believe Legia’s legal team will contest the integrity of the decision to award Celtic a 3-0 win amid suggestions UEFA may have broken their own rules in a rush to reach a decision last Friday before the draw for the next round was made.

It has been claimed technical stipulations were breached including a failure to appoint a three-man committee.

But Pinto said: “It is correct that this decision was made by one person but this happens in most urgent cases because there is no time to fly people in.

“I don’t know the details of Legia’s appeal but if that’s one of their arguments it’s not really valid.”

Former boss Gordon Strachan has told Celtic to stand their ground over the dispute.

UEFA have watched with dismay at the row which has erupted between the clubs, sparked by Legia’s open letter to Celtic in which they pleaded with the Parkhead team to step aside.

But further disciplinary action is unlikely to be taken. Pinto said: “We are staying out of it. We understand that every club wants to play in the Champions League.”

Signing news from Celtic.