UEFA have acted after another dark day for European football.
Feyenoord have been charged following the racist behaviour of fans during their Europa League clash against Roma, reports the Guardian.
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During a bad-tempered second leg clash between the two clubs – which was suspended twice – an inflatable banana was thrown onto the pitch, allegedly in the direction of Roma striker Gervinho.
Roma’s Adem Ljajic has also been charged for his celebration after scoring the opening goal in his side’s 2-1 victory, which seemed to provoke supporters.
But, it is the banana incident that has led to the largest condemnation.
In the immediate aftermath of the game, Feyenoord’s coach Fred Rutten played down the motivation behind the banana being thrown onto the pitch.
“There is such a fuss made about it. I don’t see it that way. We have different nationalities in our team. It’s nonsense. We make too much of it,” Rutten said.
The Dutch club have already been in trouble with the continent’s governing body this season, for similar events, and will find out their fate following this latest event on March 19th.
The decision comes within weeks of UEFA announcing that they are unable to punish Chelsea, after some of their fans were filmed chanting about being racist and forcefully preventing a black man getting on a metro train in Paris, because the incident did not happen at the game.