Overview
- UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body announced Wednesday that it fined Aston Villa €10,000 and ordered a ban on selling away tickets for one UEFA match after a discriminatory banner was displayed at the Europa League final in Istanbul on May 20.
- The ban is suspended for a two-year probation under Article 26(3) of UEFA’s Disciplinary Regulations so it will take effect only if a similar offence by Villa supporters occurs during that period.
- Because Villa qualified for next season’s Champions League, an activated ban could be applied to a Champions League away fixture and would directly limit access for travelling supporters.
- BBC and other outlets say the banner was described as offensive and derogatory but UEFA has not published the exact wording, and journalists have questioned how the message entered the stadium despite controls on flags and banners.
- The same CEDB decision also imposed fines and suspended or conditional match penalties on Paris Saint-Germain and SC Freiburg, underlining UEFA’s recent use of monetary fines and suspended stadium sanctions for crowd misconduct.