Seven of the 24 federations present at the Euro 2024 football tournament in Germany were fined a total of 230,000 euros by UEFA on Wednesday for racist and discriminatory behaviour committed by their fans.
UEFA, which did not elaborate on the incidents, targeted mainly Balkan teams, singling out Croatia, which will pay €50,000 for malfeasance in three matches, and Spain, Italy and Albania, which also face €30,000 each for problems in the match against the Iberian team.
Croatian and Albanian fans even starred in one of the competition’s highlights, when they chanted anti-Serb slogans together during a group stage game in Hamburg.
UEFA has promised to investigate what happened after the Serbian federation threatened to end the tournament unless it took action.
The same fans threw goals into the pitch and set off pyrotechnics in a match that ended in a 2-2 draw and in which Albania’s Mirlind Daku was also suspended for two games after leading the crowd in nationalist chants, including against Serbia.
Fines were also imposed on Romania – 40,000 euros, Serbia and Slovenia – 30,000 euros each, also accused of incidents in three different games.
Hungary did not escape disciplinary action and will pay 30,000 euros for racist behaviour by their fans in two matches, while the lightest fine is for Austria – 20,000 euros – for bad behaviour in one match.
The federations of Croatia, Romania and Serbia will also be banned from selling tickets to their fans, especially for the first trip of the Nations League qualifying round, which begins in September.
RBA // AJO
Lusa/The End