UEFA fine clubs

Ferencvaros have been fined £25,000 but spared further punishment following a series of unsavoury incidents during last week’s UEFA Cup first-round match against Millwall.

The Hungarian side have avoided having to play any of their future UEFA Cup matches behind closed doors or away from their Ulloi Ut stadium.

Ferencvaros won the second-leg game 3-1 to advance 4-2 on aggregate, but it was a contest blighted by unruly scenes inside the stadium, with Millwall’s black players being subjected to racist abuse from the home fans.

UEFA tonight said Ferencvaros had been guilty of a series of breaches of their disciplinary regulations, and criticised the club for allowing their supporters to set off Bengal lights inside the stadium.

The governing body of European football also heard how Millwall fans had been “subjected to aggressive behaviour” during the game.

Before the game, two Millwall fans were hospitalised with stab wounds, but as they had been involved in assaults in the city centre and away from the stadium, UEFA were unable to take any action.

There was also a £23,000 fine for Sparta Prague after their supporters aimed racist abuse at Lyon players when the teams recently met in the Champions League.

Another Czech team, Banik Ostrava, were hit with an £18,000 penalty after trouble in their match against Middlesbrough which included episodes of missile-throwing and racist chanting.

For their supporters’ part in a pre-match scuffle involving both sets of fans, Middlesbrough were also fined £4,500.