Madrid, Oct 29 (IANS) Bulgaria has been ordered to pay a 75,000 Euros fine and play one game behind closed doors over racism during the Euro 2020 qualifier against England.
Uefa announced the sanctions on Tuesday after racist chanting by fans during the match on October 14, that was won 6-0 by England, according to Efe news.
Its control, ethics and disciplinary body imposed a two-match stadium ban, with the second closed game to be suspended during a probationary period of two years.
Bulgaria Football Union was also ordered to pay a 75,000 euros fine.
The sanctions mean that Bulgaria’s qualifier against the Czech Republic on November 17 will be played in a closed stadium.
Bulgaria has also been ordered to display a banner with the message “No to Racism” and the Uefa logo.
The BFU was fined another 10,000 euros for disturbances during a national anthem, with England also ordered to pay 5,000 euros for the same offence.
The match, played in Sofia, was interrupted twice by the referee due to racist behavior by Bulgarian fans.
Several home fans also made Nazi salutes during the game, which was their worst defeat in an official home fixture.
English internationals considered withdrawing for the rest of the match but finally decided to continue and finish the 90 minutes.
Bulgarian police have made a number of arrests of alleged perpetrators of racist insults that were directed towards black English players.
BFU president Borislav Mihaylov and the coach Krasimir Balakov have both since resigned over the incident.
Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev told reporters at the time it was an “extremely unpleasant” incident and recalled that his country saved 50,000 Jewish citizens from being sent to death camps during World War Two.
Uefa said its disciplinary commission will study on November 21 a charge regarding insufficient number of security personnel in the movement of the team to Bulgaria.
–IANS
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