Celtic’s Europa League clash vs Lazio to take place in partially-empty stadium after Italians hit with racism charge
CELTIC’S Europa League trip to Lazio will be played in a partially-empty Stadio Olimpico after the Italians were hit with a racism charge.
UEFA have decreed that the Serie A side will only be allowed to host a reduced number of fans against Celtic in the wake of their 2-1 win over Rennes on October 3.
Racist chanting was heard from the Curva Nord section of Lazio’s stadium, which houses the club’s Ultras.
And that area will not be in use when Celtic visit the Italian capital with 9,000 away supporters on November 7.
Lazio have also been hit with a £17,340 fine, while a one-year probationary period means any more acts of racism in that time will see a Europa League game being played behind closed doors.
The Curva Nord area will have to display a banner with the slogan “#EqualGame” during the Celtic match as well.
However, Lazio have criticised UEFA’s punishment, deeming it “deeply damaging.”
AFTER 17 YEARS OF ‘PROGRESS’ CAN WE REALLY TRUST UEFA’S WAR ON RACISM?
HERE are examples of how Uefa and Fifa have dealt with incidents of racist abuse in matches involving the England senior team and Under-21s.
Incredibly, when Uefa’s disciplinary committee fined Slovakia £27,000 after monkey chants were aimed at Emile Heskey in 2002, the governing body’s own chief executive Gerhard Aigner appealed the decision because he thought it was too lenient.
As a result, the Slovaks were hit with a one-game stadium ban, although the fine was cut to £9,000.
Yet, despite Uefa admitting it should impose tougher penalties, the list below shows little has changed.
OCT 2002: Slovakia v England (Bratislava). Uefa fines Slovakia £9,000 following racist chants.
SEPT 2003: Macedonia v England (Skopje). Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell and Heskey all subjected to racial abuse. Hosts fined £16,500 by Uefa.
OCT 2003: England v Turkey (Sunderland). Uefa fine FA £65,000 for fans’ racist language/gestures.
NOV 2004: Spain v England (Madrid). Shaun Wright-Phillips and Ashley Cole subjected to monkey chants. Fifa fines Spain £44,750.
JUN 2007: Serbia U21 v England U21 (Holland). Serbia fined £16,500 by Uefa after Nedum Onuoha and Justin Hoyte were targeted with abuse.
SEPT 2008: Croatia v England (Zagreb). Heskey again disgracefully abused. Fifa fine Croatia £15,000.
SEPT 2011: Bulgaria v England (Sofia). Monkey noises aimed at Cole, Ashley Young and Theo Walcott. Uefa fine Bulgaria £34,230.
OCT 2012: Serbia U21 v England U21 (Krusevac). Danny Rose abused. Serbia hit with a £65,000 fine by Uefa.
MAR 2019: Montenegro v England (Podgorica). Hosts fined £17,000 by Uefa after more monkey chants.
A statement continued: “It seems not to have taken into account the clear condemnation from the club against the odious racist behaviour of a few irresponsible people.
“Lazio reaffirms its intention to pursue in penal and civil courts those responsible for unacceptable behaviour.”
UEFA’s penalty comes on the back of England’s racism nightmare in Bulgaria.
The Three Lions trounced their Euro 2020 qualifier opponents 6-0 on Monday.
But England’s black players were subject to disgraceful racist abuse throughout the night.
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A large group of Bulgarian fans taunted England with monkey noises and Nazi salutes, which were apparently part of an organised plot by twisted Neo-Nazis to deliberately abandon the match.
Four Bulgarian supporters have now been arrested following the resignation of their FA president.
But although UEFA have charged Bulgaria with racist behaviour, throwing objects and disrupting God Save The Queen, England have also had the book thrown at them for jeering their opponent’s anthem as well.