Barcelona have been banned from selling away tickets for the club’s next Champions League match after UEFA found some supporters had been racist in their opening European clash of the season.
The Catalonia club were defeated by Monaco in their first match of the competition and the defeat was somewhat marred as racist abuse was heard coming from Barcelona fans in the away section.
UEFA has now hit the club with a serious punishment. Barcelona will play their second away meeting against Serbian side Red Star Belgrade without their supporters in the 51,000-seater stadium.
The LaLiga giants have also been hit with an £8,332 fine from the governing body for the actions of their fans while in Monaco that included one individual holding up a sign showing the Nazi symbol.
UEFA state: ‘The charges against Barca relate to racism and/or other discriminatory conduct, per Art. 14(2) of UEFA’s Disciplinary Regulations.’
Barcelona will also see their fans banned from more future away matches if there is any repeat of their racist behaviour as UEFA also imposed an additional one-match ban that is suspended for 12 months in relation to two other incidents.
While refund will be made to fans who have gotten a ticket for the match, Barcelona have responded to UEFA’s sanction, stating they will ‘undertake additional actions that are appropriate in order to prevent these events from being repeated in the future as well as sanctioning those responsible.’
