adminZURICH. — Uefa have opened disciplinary proceedings against CSKA Moscow for racist behaviour following allegations that Manchester City’s Yaya Toure was abused in a Champions League match, the governing body said yesterday.
“Disciplinary proceedings have been opened against CSKA Moscow for racist behaviour of their fans (article 14 of the Uefa disciplinary regulations) and for setting off of fireworks (article 16) at last night’s Uefa Champions League group stage match in Moscow against Manchester City FC,” Uefa said in a statement on their website.
“The case will be dealt with by the Uefa Control and Disciplinary Body on October 30.”
‘‘For me, as captain, I was wearing an armband which said ‘no to racism’ and I was totally disappointed. I want to see Uefa take some action.
‘‘We have to be as strong as possible, otherwise they will continue like that. Maybe they could ban the stadium for a couple of years or a couple of months.
‘‘The club may say they have to educate the fans, but I think it’s enough. Too much is too much. We have to stop it now.
‘‘I played in Ukraine. It’s not only in Eastern Europe and I have some friends who have had problems, too. It’s unbelievable. They’re stupid, they’re just stupid. UEFA have to take action to right it otherwise I think they will just continue.’’
After the game Toure took to Twitter to thank the fans who had supported him and said he would not let the abuse affect him.
He tweeted: ‘‘Thank you for your support! Hate or racism cannot affect me when so many people are showing me love and support on a daily basis! I believe in football institutions, I know decision makers will take their responsibilities and show A RED CARD TO RACISM’’
City are determined not to let the matter rest after being dismayed by a meagre £16,000 fine for Porto following racist taunting of Mario Balotelli last year. They made their feelings clear to Uefa within minutes of the final whistle, and lodged a complaint about alleged monkey chanting from sections of the home support.
City skipper Vincent Kompany, who missed the match with a groin injury, tweeted his support while manager Manuel Pellegrini echoed the call for Uefa to fulfil their promise to crack down on racism.
Kompany wrote: ‘‘Racist chants again in Moscow today.. We’ve all said enough. @UEFAcom, @GovernmentRF, CSKA, all eyes are on you now.. #StopRacism’’
Romanian referee Hategan came under fire from Lord Ouseley for not following guidelines that were introduced last May, when Uefa decreed that, in the event of racist behaviour by spectators, the match official should initially stop the game and ask for a warning over the public address system that it could lead to an abandonment.
‘‘This referee should not be refereeing again,’’ said the Kick It Out boss. ‘He failed to do his duty, and that is a clear issue Uefa should be dealing with.
‘‘Why didn’t he do his job, which was to stop the game and make sure the problem was dealt with? Uefa need to enforce the regulations that have been brought in to play to deal with these type of offences, and this will be a test for them.
‘‘It seems to me the only alternative is to provide the players with the power to do what Kevin-Prince Boateng did with Milan last season and walk off the pitch, because that is the only way we can bring sanity to the situation.
‘‘It has gone on far too long. Uefa and Fifa take us for mugs, and that cannot go on any longer.’’
Last May, Uefa introduced 10-game bans for players guilty of racist conduct and Pellegrini said: ‘‘I don’t know exactly what happened but there were some shouts against our player and it is a pity that we still have those stupid things.
‘‘I just hope the right message can be put out for Yaya and Manchester City.”
CSKA Moscow claimed Toure was not racially abused by their fans.
The Russian club’s deputy media manager Michael Sanadze told Sky Sports News: ‘‘There is no subject to discuss. Nothing special happened.
‘‘There was a lot of noise in the stadium. Nobody else, other than Yaya Toure, heard anything. The only trouble that has come about was because Yaya Toure heard something.’’
CSKA striker Seydou Doumbia is quoted in Russian newspaper Sport Express saying: ‘‘I didn’t hear anything like that from the CSKA fans . . . yes, they’re always noisy in supporting the team, and try to put as much pressure as possible on our opponents but they wouldn’t ever allow themselves to come out with racist chants.
‘‘So my Ivory Coast colleague is clearly exaggerating.’’
It was also claimed by a Russian journalist that Toure wasn’t the only member of the City squad on the receiving end of some racist abuse.
Alexey Yaroshevsky told talkSPORT a friend of his attended the Champions’ League tie at the Khimki Arena and distinctly heard racist chanting that appeared to be aimed at Fernandinho, as well as Toure. — Mailonline.
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