UEFA has fined the Ukrainian Football Association €20,000. The background is an incident in an indoor soccer game against Russia.
This was announced by the UEFA Disciplinary Body. “Provocative, offensive messages (e.g. unauthorized chants)” were included in the communication as a brief justification.
While in men’s and women’s football teams from Russia and Ukraine are largely not allowed to meet, at least in the first rounds of the competitions, according to a current stipulation by the UEFA Executive Committee, this was recently possible in futsal.
Insulting chants against Putin?
At the Futsal European Championship in the Netherlands, Ukraine and Russia met in the semi-finals. The game took place on February 4th. At that time, there were signs of a Russian attack on Ukraine, because the Russian army was massing more and more troops on the border. The war of aggression began on February 24, almost three weeks later.
British media reports that Ukraine fans chanted insulting chants against Russian President Vladimir Putin during the futsal game. This was followed by a warning from the hall speaker.
Exact allegations not published
The association did not disclose exactly what the UEFA Disciplinary Chamber accused Ukraine of in the proceedings.
Before the game, UEFA had, according to the British newspaper Guardians informed that they Fair play “by both teams on and off the pitch” expect Ukraine lost 2-3 and missed a penalty just before the end. Futsal is a form of indoor football without a rink.