The Europa League draw has sparked a scandal: Fans suspect a conspiracy.

Strange circumstances of the Europa League draw

According to The Sun: Fans were stunned during the Europa League draw, with many even expressing doubts about transparency.

At the start of the event, the team conducted a verification of the balls to be drawn, and then the New Year's festival magician Mario Daniel 'made them disappear'.

Reuters AFP

UEFA announced that the draw will be conducted entirely digitally, similar to the Champions League draw held the day before.

Chelsea legend Eden Hazard had the honorable task of pressing the 'magic button' for the draw.

To speed up the process, teams from pots 2, 3, and 4 learned their results immediately after the button was pressed.

Fans actively expressed their astonishment at this 'transformation' of the draw.

"They brought magic to the Europa League draw, so there is no doubt that there could be fraud in the draw."

"I just focused on the Europa League draw and it looks like I am in a magic show. Completely lost here."

"The 'software' for the Europa League draw? That doesn't sound suspicious at all."

"I'm watching the Europa League draw and before it starts, there's a magic trick with the balls. Good advertising for rigging the draw."

Nonetheless, no fan presented evidence for their assumptions about possible manipulations of the draw.

Draw results for the teams

The Champions League quarter-finalists Aston Villa have two away games in the Netherlands against Feyenoord and Go Ahead Eagles.

The Villans will also face Salzburg, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Young Boys, and Bologna at home, while playing away against Fenerbahçe and Basel.

Nottingham Forest, who were supposed to play in the Europa Conference League, learned of their fate before Crystal Palace dropped out of the competition.

Nuno Espírito Santo's team will play home matches against Ferencváros, Porto, and FC Midtjylland.

They will also host Malmö in a rematch of the 1979 European Cup final, which they won 1-0.

The East Midlands will also travel to Real Betis, Braga, Sturm Graz, and Utrecht.

In the upcoming Europa League matches, fans are definitely expecting interesting surprises. The draw process has already raised many questions, and it remains unclear how this will affect the atmosphere surrounding the tournament. Will the magic truly help fans and teams, or bring more controversies – time will tell. We are monitoring the developments!