February 3 – Dynamo Kiev will no longer have to face Manchester City in the Champions League behind closed doors after UEFA’s appeals committee controversially reduced a sanction imposed for racist behaviour and crowd disturbances.
The Ukrainian champions were initially ordered to play two home European matches in an empty stadium following incidents against Chelsea on October 20.
However, UEFA’s appeals committee reduced that to one game, which Kiev served against Maccabi Tel Aviv in December, and cut the fine imposed on the club from €100,000 to €50,000.
The charges were brought following a prolonged attack against predominantly black supporters caught on camera by FARE, the anti-discriminatory Football Against Racism in Europe body which sends observers to major European games.
Dynamo are due to meet Manchester City in the 70,000-capacity Olympic Stadium on February 24 in a round of 16, first-leg match. There was no immediate reaction by FARE to the latest ruling but eyebrows seem certain to be raised over the fact that UEFA gave no reason for halving the punishment. The sanction was Dynamo Kiev’s second for racism incidents. Last March, UEFA fined them and closed part of the stadium for abusive behaviour at a Europa League game against Everton.
And just weeks before that, Kiev were slapped with a partial closure of the stadium following a pitch invasion by supporters during a Europa League Round of 32 second leg match against French club Guingamp.
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