Manchester City want fans reimbursed with CSKA Moscow’s Uefa fine

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/22/manchester-city-fans-cska-moscow-uefa

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Manchester City will express extreme disappointment to Uefa at the governing body taking no action against CSKA Moscow, despite home fans being present in the Arena Khimki for Tuesday’s 2-2 Champions League draw. The Premier League champions will ask that the fine paid by CSKA as part of a punishment for fans’ misconduct be used to reimburse City supporters, who lost money on the cost of the trip for the Group E match they were not allowed to attend.

CSKA are serving a three-match stadium ban for their fans’ offences, which include repeated racism. Yet there were at least 350 of their supporters present draped in club colours and loudly cheering their side throughout the tie.

City plan to write to Uefa to state they feel particularly aggrieved for their fans, who were punished by not being able to go to the game, despite having done nothing wrong. The letter will point to how any ingenious route used by City supporters to see the match, including renting a flat that overlooks the stadium, was blocked. This is despite the same apartment being used by Bayern Munich fans when the German club played there and the ground was closed.

Uefa will take no action because the CSKA contingent who attended were there on sponsor tickets. There is a strong view at City that the governing body needs to consider how its regulations could be tightened.

Although City have no issue with the result, the club believe the stadium ban was flaunted. Whereas Uefa insist there was no breach of rules, the club may point to people openly drinking in sight of the match.

Questions will also be asked about why CSKA were allowed to play the match at home, where they are familiar with local stewards and police.

On Wednesday Uefa’s statement said: “Following yesterday’s Champions League game between CSKA Moscow and Manchester City, Uefa has reviewed the officials’ reports and found no breach of the conditions related to a match played behind closed doors. Only people who were allowed to enter the stadium – clubs delegations, media, security staff, Uefa and guests of sponsorship partners – attended the match with no record of inappropriate behaviour.

“However, Uefa is reviewing the behind-closed-doors policy to see if alternative solutions could be implemented in the future.”

Among the changes being considered by Uefa’s president, Michel Platini, is to allow only women and children into matches rather than completely closing stadiums as punishment for supporters’ racist abuse. “The president is always looking at ways we could improve our rules and regulations,” said the Uefa chief of press, Pedro Pinto. “Just yesterday we discussed the possibility of inviting women and children for free instead of closing the stadium completely.”