CSKA punished by UEFA after fan racism

CSKA Moscow’s punishment after their fans racially abused Manchester City players at a Champions League match is to play in a partially closed stadium when they take on Bayern Munich later this month.

UEFA’s disciplinary panel on Wednesday found the Russian champion guilty for their fans’ ‘racist behaviour’ during City’s 2-1 win in Moscow last week.

City captain Yaya Toure directed referee Ovidiu Hategan toward fans making monkey noises at the English club’s black players. 

The Romanian referee is also being investigated by UEFA for not interrupting the match to order a stadium announcement, warning fans about their behaviour.

CSKA’s punishment applies to section D at Arena Khimki when defending champions Bayern visit on November 27.

The club can appeal the partial closure order, and UEFA can also appeal to impose a tougher sanction.

CSKA are the ninth club to be punished by UEFA this season for racist behaviour by fans at Champions League or Europa League matches after tougher sanctions were agreed in May.

Dinamo Zagreb and Legia Warsaw have been convicted of repeated offenses and ordered to play one match in an empty stadium. Six clubs had partial closures imposed for first offenses: Lazio, APOEL, Honved, Lech Poznan, Piast Gliwice and Rijeka.

UEFA did not impose a fine on CSKA, who have already earned UEFA prize money of $11.8 million just for qualifying to the group stage.

UEFA opened a disciplinary case based on a formal complaint by City, and reports from Hategan and its match delegate, Tormod Larsen of Norway. 

However, UEFA President Michel Platini himself requested an internal inquiry to examine why the protocol was not followed to respond to discrimination incidents during matches.