UEFA chiefs have warned Juventus they will take tough action if their fans target Manchester City’s new signing Mario Balotelli with racist abuse again.
The Italian club were ordered to play a match behind closed doors last year after fans racially abused the striker during a Serie A game against his former club Inter Milan.
City will face Juve in Europa League Group A along with Salzburg from Austria and Polish side Lech Poznan.
UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said: "They know that our disciplinary bodies are watching. There will be sanctions if racism is used.
"UEFA have a zero tolerance to racism. No one is getting away with anything do to with racism."
Racist abuse of Balotelli in Italy surfaced after the striker, who is of Ghanaian descent, was selected for the national team and prompted the fan ban by an Italian judge.
Juventus chief executive Jean-Claude Blanc said Balotelli’s return would offer fans the chance to prove they had changed.
Blanc said: "This will be the chance for the tifosi to demonstrate that the standard has been raised – hopefully fans will behave the way they should be behaving and supporting the team and only this.
"Supporting your team is to support your team, and not to make remarks of a racist nature toward other players. We will be extremely demanding and intransigent about this."
Five-times European champions Liverpool have been drawn against 1986 European champions Steaua Bucharest in Group K, along with 1989 UEFA Cup winners Napoli and FC Utrecht, who knocked out Celtic in the play-offs last night.
Europa League holders Atletico Madrid, who defeated Fulham in the final when the London club were coached by new Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson, will take on Bayer Leverkusen, Norwegian champions Rosenborg and Greek side Aris.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, August 28, 2010
