August 5 – UEFA have awarded Legia Warsaw a 3-0 victory in their Europa League match away to FK Kukesi that was abandoned after one of their players was hit by a stone thrown from the crowd.
Legia had just taken a 2-1 lead in the first leg of the third qualifying round tie when 20-year-old Slovakia international Ondrej Duda was hit by an object and stretchered off to have his head bandaged. Play was suspended and although he recovered, the game was called off on 51 minutes.
It is the second consecutive season that Legia’s European participation has been marked by controversy. The Polish club were thrown out of last season’s Champions League for fielding an ineligible player during a 6-1 aggregate win over Celtic.
But this time the club were the victims and the Albanians were also ordered to play their next two European home games behind closed doors and were fined €70,000 for setting off fireworks and throwing objects, as well displaying an illicit banner.
The second leg will go ahead as planned this Thursday.
Meanwhile, UEFA has thrown out a protest by Fenerbahce after they complained their Champions League opponents Shakhtar Donetsk had fielded midfielder Fred in last week’s tie despite allegations of a doping offence against the Brazilian.
Shakhtar coach Mircea Lucescu selected Fred for the third qualifying round first leg in Istanbul, which ended 0-0, while admitting the club had been advised by UEFA not to include him.
The Brazilian Football Confederation have confirmed that Fred tested positive for the masking agent hydrochlorothiazide during the Copa America in Chile. However, a spokesman for UEFA said: “The protest has been dismissed.”
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