UEFA punishes CSKA Moscow for fans’ racist chants
CSKA Moscow will have to play its next home European Champions League match with Bayern Munich in a partially closed stadium as punishment after its fans racially abused Manchester City’s Yaya Toure during a game on October 23.
The Union of European Football Associations’ (UEFA) disciplinary
panel charged the Russian club after Ivorian midfielder Toure
complained that he heard the offensive chants by home fans during
City’s 2-1 win at the Arena Khimki stadium outside
Moscow.
UEFA found CSKA Moscow guilty for the “racist behavior” of its
supporters and ordered the closure of the stadium’s sector D for
its next home game in the UEFA Champions League, scheduled to
take place on November 27.
“The fight against racism is a high priority for UEFA,”
the organization said in a statement published on Wednesday.
“The European governing body has a zero tolerance policy
towards racism and discrimination on the pitch and in the stands.
All forms of racist behavior are considered serious offences
against the disciplinary regulations and are punished with the
most severe sanctions.”
“Following the entry into force of the new disciplinary
regulations on 1 June, the fight against racist conduct has been
stepped up a level – resulting in more severe sanctions to deter
any such behavior,” the statement continues.
Commenting on the news, CSKA general director Roman Babayev
called the punishment “minimal” but refused to admit that racial
abuse had taken place.
“It has not been proven,” he told ITAR-TASS, stating that
the team had mixed feelings over the ruling. “We do understand
that we could have been punished more severely given the
aggressive campaign launched by the British media.”
CSKA said it might not appeal the decision, as it respects the
football governing body. The team is still waiting to receive the
full text of the order.
Toure, who captained City for the game, said earlier that he was
“furious” about the monkey-chants he heard from CSKA
supporters. He demanded that UEFA react to the incident in order
to prevent such behavior in the future.
“I’m very, very disappointed about what those fans have done
today and I think UEFA have to take action because players with
the same color of skin will always be in the same position,”
he said after the match at Arena Khimki. “Maybe they could ban
the stadium, I don’t know, for a couple of years or a couple of
months,” he added.
City boss Manuel Pellegrini said he did not hear the chants, but
described them as “stupid things” and “a pity.” He
also urged UEFA to take action against the Russian club.
CSKA officials said they were “surprised and disappointed”
by Toure’s claims about alleged racial abuse. The club said it
carefully studied the video of the game and found no racist
insults from fans.
CSKA striker Seydou Doumbia, also an Ivorian national, noted
after the game that his colleague was exaggerating.
“I didn't hear anything like that from the CSKA fans...Yes,
they're always noisy in supporting the team, and try to put as
much pressure as possible on our opponents, but they wouldn't
ever allow themselves to come out with racist chants. So my Ivory
Coast colleague is clearly exaggerating.”
Football commentator Vladimir Stognienko believes the UEFA
decision has caused the entire football association pay for the
mistake of a single person.
"Yaya Toure may have heard somebody shouting something;
incidents like that happen from time to time. But it's not a sign
of widespread racism, rather that some individual fans lack a
certain culture,” Stognienko told RT.
“Let's not forget that UEFA is a European organization and
Europe is touchy when it comes to any form of racism. UEFA calls
for a show of friendship on the field, but it's difficult to
prevent random incidents carried out by random individuals."