Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

CSKA Moscow 1 Manchester City 2: Uefa charge CSKA Moscow with 'racist behaviour of their fans'

Racist chanting was directed at Toure during the win in Moscow on Wednesday

Martyn Ziegler
Thursday 24 October 2013 16:24 BST
Comments
Manchester City's Yaya Toure, closes in on the ball as Moscow goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev dives during the 2-1 victory
Manchester City's Yaya Toure, closes in on the ball as Moscow goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev dives during the 2-1 victory (AP)

UEFA has charged CSKA Moscow with "racist behaviour of their fans" after Manchester City's Yaya Toure complained of monkey chants against him during the Champions League match in Moscow.

The Russian club have denied any racist abuse took place during Wednesday night's match but will face a disciplinary hearing next week.

A UEFA statement read: "Proceedings have been opened against CSKA Moscow for racist behaviour of their fans (article 14 of the UEFA disciplinary regulations) and for setting off of fireworks (article 16) at last night's UEFA Champions League group stage match in Moscow against Manchester City.

"The case will be dealt with by the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body on 30 October."

City's Ivory Coast midfielder has called on Uefa to close the Moscow stadium as punishment for the abuse he suffered, and under the new rules a partial closure looks certain if the allegations are proved.

A first offence of racist behaviour by supporters carries a sanction of a partial stadium closure and a second offence leads to a full stadium closure plus a fine.

Uefa 's communications director David Farrelly told Press Association Sport: "Uefa now has new regulations in place which were brought in at the start of the season.

"The executive committee, supported by the Uefa Congress, felt that fines were not a deterrent - this is not a financial problem, it is a human problem - and decided to change the regulations in order to tackle the problem in a more effective way.

"These new regulations have only been in existence for a matter of weeks but we have already seen them used by the disciplinary bodies."

City have confirmed they made an official complaint to Uefa over the matter and confirmed that Toure voiced his concerns about the chanting to the referee during the match.

Toure said: "I'm not just disappointed, I'm furious.

"I'm very, very disappointed about what those fans have done and I think Uefa has to take action because players with the same colour of skin will always be in the same position.

"For me, as captain, I was wearing an armband which said 'no to racism' and I was totally disappointed.

"Maybe they could ban the stadium, I don't know, for a couple of years or a couple of months.

"It's stupid these people. I don't know, it just happens in football. It's unbelievable. Uefa has to take action to right it otherwise I think they will just continue."

So far this season, Uefa has imposed full stadium bans on three clubs - Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia, Legia Warsaw of Poland and Honved of Hungary - for racist behaviour by their supporters while five other clubs have had partial stadium closures imposed. They are: Lazio (who were originally handed a full stadium closure but that was reduced on appeal), Polish clubs Lech Poznan and Piast Gliwice, APOEL Nicosia of Cyprus and Croatian outfit HNK Rijeka.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in