By David Gold
September 13 – Austrian side Rapid Vienna have appealed against a decision from UEFA that means they will have to play their next European match behind closed doors.
The Austrians were also given a suspended one-year ban from UEFA competitions as a result of a riot that took place after their Europa League qualifier with Greek outfit PAOK Salonika on August 24.
Missiles were thrown between the supporters and a pitch invasion took place as the Greek side won 2-1.
However, Rapid Vienna won the second leg 3-0 to qualify for the Europa League group stage, where they will face Metalist Kharkiv, Rosenborg and Bayer Leverkusen.
UEFA charged the club with “improper conduct of supporters”, and Vienna will face a one-year ban from Europe if there should be a repeat of the incident during the next three years.
PAOK were also given a suspended one-year ban and ordered to play three European home matches behind closed doors.
UEFA is set to consider Rapid Vienna’s appeal against the sanction tomorrow, less than a week before their opening Europa League clash with Norwegian side Rosenborg.
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