Fans’ racist behavior got Lazio and Atletico in trouble

UEFA announced on Friday that Lazio and Atletico Madrid were penalized for the discriminatory conduct of their supporters during European competitions.

The governing body of European soccer has announced that two sectors of the Curva Nord at the Lazio stadium (48 and 49) will be closed for the Italian club’s upcoming Europa League home game against Porto on November 7. This decision was made in response to the racist behavior of a few supporters during the team’s 4-1 victory over Nice last week.

The infringement resulted in a sanction of 45,000 euros ($49,230) for Lazio, as well as an additional partial stadium closure for an additional game.

“Said partial stadium closure is suspended during a probationary period of one year,” the European Football Association announced.

Atletico received a suspended prohibition from selling tickets to their away fans for a UEFA competition match, in addition to a fine of 30,000 euros.
Each probationary period lasts for one year.

Last week, Atletico supporters engaged in “racist/discriminatory” conduct during the team’s 4-0 defeat to Benfica in the Champions League.

Anderlecht were also prohibited from selling tickets to their away fans for their Europa League game at RFS in Latvia on Nov. 7. This decision was made by UEFA, who decided to enforce “the suspended disciplinary measure imposed… on 21 October 2022 for lighting of fireworks, throwing of objects, acts of damage and crowd disturbances.”