Football
ESPN staff 9y

CSKA Moscow punishment for fan trouble vs. Roma reduced by UEFA

CSKA Moscow have had their punishment for crowd trouble in the Champions League away to Roma reduced by UEFA from three home European matches played behind closed doors to two on appeal.

The Russian club were ordered to play their next three European games at the Khimki Arena behind closed doors following sanctions related to racist behaviour by their supporters, crowd disturbances and fireworks and missiles during the game in Rome on Sep. 17.

However, the UEFA Appeals Body met on Monday to discuss an appeal by the club, and European football's governing body announced on their official website on Tuesday that the decision originally taken by the Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body taken on Oct. 3 has been modified.

CSKA were originally issued with a three-game behind-closed-doors punishment and a 200,000-euro fine, but that has now been reduced to a two-game ban and a 100,000-euro fine, with the third game suspended for five years.

CSKA are still banned from selling tickets to their own supporters for their next two away Champions League group games at Manchester City and Bayern Munich.

Having already played one of their home matches while under punishment against City, the decision means CSKA would be free to host fans home and away in the knockout stages of the competition should they qualify from Group E.

UEFA last week decided to take no action against CSKA for apparently having fans inside their stadium during the 2-2 draw with Premier League champions Manchester City.

Some 200 to 300 people supporting CSKA were inside the stadium despite the behind-closed-doors punishment, and Vincent Kompany has since accused UEFA of punishing his side's supporters given that City fans were banned from the ground.

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko says that his country has no particular problem with racism in football as it prepares to host the 2018 World Cup despite a series of recent incidents.

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