Explained: How UEFA's punishment for racism at Bulgaria v England could mean more than empty stadiums
As England’s players decided whether or not to leave the field on Monday night, there was much talk of UEFA’s three-step protocol against discrimination. Those three steps are: first a public announcement ordering the end of the offensive chanting; then, if that didn’t work, the players would leave the pitch temporarily; if there was still no improvement, the game would be abandoned.
As it turned out, events hovered between the first and second steps. When the announcement didn’t quell the noise, England’s players huddled on the pitch while the referee methodically consulted with UEFA officials. After a delay of around five minutes, the match continued.
However, there is another three-step UEFA system which Bulgaria is now likely to be moved along. Written into UEFA’s rules is a trio of punishments for any club or country whose supporters insult “the human dignity of a person or group of persons on whatever grounds, including skin colour, race, religion or ethnic origin.”
Step One: Partial ground closure
Bulgaria was already on the first punishment step: “a minimum of a partial stadium closure.” After Bulgaria fans were found guilty of racist behavior during Euro 2020 qualifiers against Kosovo and the Czech Republic, UEFA mandated that 5,000 of the 46,340 seats at the Vasil Levski stadium in Sofia be blocked off for the game with England and 3,000 against the Czech Republic next month.
Bulgaria is far from the first team to be punished in this way. Poland, Greece and Croatia have had similar partial closures, as have clubs in UEFA competitions like the Champions League - including Steaua Bucharest, Debrecen, Maribor, FC Chikhura Sachkhere, Spartak Moscow, Zenit St Petersburg and Atletico Madrid.
Step Two: Behind closed doors and a fine
UEFA’s rules for repeat offenders are fairly straightforward: “a second offence is punished with one match played behind closed doors and a fine of €50,000.” Among the recipients of this punishment at club level are Dynamo Kiev, Lyon, Slovan Bratislava, Partizan Belgrade and Red Star Belgrade, along with countries Romania, Montenegro and Croatia.
Even here, though, there is confusion and claims of rule-bending. Slovan Bratislava was punished after fans made racist chants and displayed a racist banner against Greek side PAOK. They will play Europa League game against Wolves later this month “behind closed doors” - but roughly 5,000 fans will attend anyway, because children under the age of 14 are permitted if accompanied by an adult.
Step Three: Anything up to disqualification
After the clarity of the second step is the complexity of the third step. Here, UEFA has given itself a lot of leeway: “any subsequent offence is punished with more than one match behind closed doors, a stadium closure, the forfeiting of a match, the deduction of points and/or disqualification from the competition.”
This obviously covers a lot of ground and allows UEFA to react in accordance with what it perceives as the severity of the offence, including moving beyond fines into sporting sanctions such as point deductions. It is worth noting, however, that only once has UEFA gone that far once.
In July 2015, Croatia - having within the previous six months received a partial stadium closure and then a one-match stadium ban - was punished again after a swastika was chemically burnt onto the pitch before a Euro 2016 qualifier. The country was docked one point, and remained top of its qualifying group.
AGAINST “HUMAN DIGNITY”: A TIMELINE
Sep 2011 - Bulgaria Punishment: £34,320 fine
Monkey chants directed at England trio Ashley Cole, Theo Walcott and Ashley Young during a Euro 2012 qualifier in Sofia.
Apr 2012 - Porto Punishment: £16,700 fine
Monkey chants at Man City striker Mario Balotelli from Porto fans in a Europa League game.
Jun 2012 - Russia Punishment: £24,203 fine
Euro 2012: Monkey noises at Czech Republic defender Theodor Gebre Selassie.
Jun 2012 - Spain Punishment: £16,137 fine
Euro 2012: at Balotelli again, this time playing for Italy.
Jun 2012 - Croatia Punishment: £58,500 fine
Euro 2012: at Balotelli once again.
Oct 2012 - Lazio Punishment: £32,500 fine
Monkey noises at three Tottenham players - Jermain Defoe, Aaron Lennon and Andros Townsend - during a Europa League group game at White Hart Lane.
Dec 2012 - Serbia Punishment: £65,000 fine
Serbia U21 v England U21: various English black players racially abused. Several Serbia players swarmed onto Danny Rose after he booted a ball into the crowd.
Jan 2013 - Pro Patria Punishment: None
The lower-league Italian team’s fans racially abused AC Milan midfielder Kevin Prince-Boateng, who led his team-mates off the pitch. Because it was a pre-season friendly, UEFA said the incident was outside their jurisdiction, and did not punish Pro Patria.
Apr 2013 - Dynamo Kiev Punishment: Two European games behind closed doors (one deferred three years)
Racist chants during Europa League games against Paris Saint-Germain and Bordeaux.
Aug 2014 - Four clubs Punishment: Partial stadium bans
Steaua Bucharest, Debrecen, Maribor and FC Chikhura Sachkhere guilty of racist behaviour from fans in Champions League (except Chikhura Sachkhere in Europa League).
Dec 2014 - Croatia Punishment: One-game partial stadium closure and £58,500 fine
Croatia's 1-1 draw with Italy at the San Siro had to be stopped twice, with the players being taken from the pitch at one point and riot police brought in to deal with crowd trouble.
Mar 2015 - Croatia Punishment: One-game stadium ban
During partial stadium closure, Croatia fans were making racist chants during their Euro 2016 qualifier with Norway.
Jul 2015 - Croatia Punishment: 1pt deduction (Euro 2016 qualifiers), two-game stadium ban and £70,892 fine
Even then it carried on. Before a game against Italy in Split, a swastika was burnt onto the pitch using chemical agent, and became visible during the game.
Sep 2015 - Romania Punishment: One-game stadium ban and £80,000 fine
Racist fan behaviour during Euro 2016 qualifiers against Hungary and Greece.
Oct 2017 - Spartak Moscow Punishment: 500-seat closure at next European game, with #EqualGame banner displayed on empty seats
Spartak fans were accused by Liverpool supporters of racially abusing teenager Bobby Adekanye during a youth team game.
Dec 2017 - Zenit St Petersburg Punishment: Partial stadium closure, £10,000 fine and display of #EqualGame banner
Fans displayed a banner in support of former Bosnian-Serb military leader Ratko Mladic during a game against Macedonian side Vardar Skopje in the Europa League.
Mar 2018 - Atalanta Punishment: None
Borussia Dortmund accuse Atalanta fans of racist chanting during a Europa League game.
Jun 2018 - Zenit St Petersburg Punishment: £42,700 fine
Zenit again find themselves in trouble with Uefa after racist abuse from supporters during a Europa League game with RB Leipzig.
Jun 2018 - Atletico Madrid Punishment: 3,000-seat closure at next home game but no fine for banner
Atletico fans displayed a racist banner during the Europa League final against Marseille, but were also accused of crowd disturbances after fireworks were set off.
Jul 2018 - Red Star Belgrade Punishment: Full stadium ban and £61,500 banRed Star fans chanted racist songs during a game against FK Suduva.
Aug 2018 - Lyon Punishment: Two European games behind closed doors, one suspended two years, and an £85,500 for all the offences combined
Lyon were found guilty of their fans causing several disturbances during a Europa League game with CSKA Moscow. They were charged with racist behaviour, but also setting off fireworks and blocking stadium stairways.
Sep 2018 - Poland Punishment: A closure of 1,000 seats, with the #EqualGame banner displayed
Racist abuse was heard from Polish fans during their Nations League game with Italy, and fireworks were also set off.
Oct 2018 - Romania Punishment: One-game stadium ban and £44,500 fine
Supporters were found guilty of racism during a Nations League game with Serbia, after holding up a banner linking refugees to terrorism and making racist chants.
Nov 2018 - Greece Punishment: Partial stadium ban and £8,500 fan
Racist behaviour from Greek fans during a game with Estonia led to Uefa sanctions.
Dec 2018 - Chelsea Punishment: None
Fans were accused of singing anti-Semitic songs about Tottenham during a Europa League game with Hungarian side MOL Vidi.
Apr 2019 - Montenegro Punishment: One-game stadium closure and £17,396 fine
Montenegro fans racially abused England's Raheem Sterling, Danny Rose and Callum Hudson-Odoi, with Sterling famously responding by cupping his fans to his ears in front of the Montenegro fans after scoring.
Aug 2019 - Slovan Bratislava Punishment: “behind closed doors”
Slovan fans made racist chants and displayed a racist banner during a game against Greek side PAOK. Slovan will play their Europa League game with Wolves behind closed doors, though roughly 5,000 fans are likely to attend because children under the age of 14 are allowed to go and be accompanied by an adult.
Aug 2019 - Partizan Belgrade Punishment: Two-game stadium ban
Partizan Belgrade fans were found guilty of racist behaviour during their team's 3-1 win over Turkish club Malatyaspor in the first leg of the third qualifying round of the Europa League.
