Twente Ordered To Close Part Of Stadium Over Racist Abuse By Supporters.
Twente have been ordered by Uefa to partially close their stadium for their upcoming European match, following racist abuse directed at Lazio winger Loum Tchaouna by some of the Dutch club’s fans.
The incident took place on 24 October during Twente’s Europa League clash against Lazio, held at De Grolsch Veste stadium in the Netherlands. Tchaouna, visibly disturbed by the abuse, reportedly mimicked monkey noises to highlight the actions to both the referee, Nikola Dabanovic, and the Lazio bench.
As a consequence, Twente will be required to close part of their home stadium when they host Union Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League on 28 November. Additionally, Uefa has imposed a fine of 40,000 euros (£33,490) on the club.
In a related case, the Hungarian Football Federation has also been sanctioned by Uefa after supporters were found guilty of racist and discriminatory behaviour during the national team’s Nations League fixture in Bosnia-Herzegovina on 14 October. Due to this misconduct, Hungary has been banned from selling away tickets for their next Uefa competition match and fined 20,000 euros (£16,745).
Further penalties were issued to the Bosnia-Herzegovina Football Federation after local supporters were involved in throwing objects and engaging in racist or discriminatory behaviour during the same fixture. The federation faces a 29,250-euro (£24,489) fine and will be required to close part of their national stadium for the next home Uefa competition match.
These actions by Uefa underline the governing body’s ongoing commitment to combat racism and discriminatory behaviour in European football.
