MADRID (REUTERS) - Malaga will not be able to take their place in next season's Europa League after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected the club's appeal against a Uefa ban from continental competition.

European football's ruling body, which is getting tough on teams that live beyond their means, initially banned Qatar-owned Malaga for two years in December because of overdue payments to other clubs and the Spanish tax authorities.

That was later reduced to a year after the club "regularised its overdue payables" and they appealed to CAS asking for the Uefa decision to be annulled or replaced with less severe sanctions.

However, CAS has rejected the appeal and ruled that Malaga, who finished sixth in La Liga last season, will also have to pay the original fine of 300,000 euros (S$495,500).

Malaga's Europa League place will be taken up by Rayo Vallecano, who finished eighth, if the Madrid-based club can resolve their own financial problems.

Otherwise, ninth-placed Sevilla will compete in Europe's second-tier club competition next term, a tournament they won in 2006 and 2007 when it was called the Uefa Cup.