Bulgaria have been handed a paltry fine and a two-game ban for the racist chanting seen taking place during the recent game against England in Sofia.
As noted at the time of the 6-0 victory for England, sections of the home crowd subjected England’s players to monkey chants and some were even spotted performing Nazi salutes in some truly sickening scenes.
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Sky Sports now report that Uefa have given Bulgaria a punishment of two games to be played behind closed doors, alongside a fine of £64,640.
This seems far from good enough given the seriousness of the offences by Bulgarian fans in that game, and it’s hard to imagine small punishments like this will do nearly enough towards eradicating racism from football.
For context, this fine is less than the one handed to Nicklas Bendtner for revealing a Paddy Power sponsor on his pants in Euro 2012, as reported by the Telegraph.
This simply does not send a strong enough message and Bulgaria will feel they’ve got away with one here.
Anti-racism charity Kick It Out have issued the following response criticising UEFA for their response to dealing with racist incidents…
'We feel Uefa’s entire disciplinary process in response to racial discrimination should be overhauled.'
Our statement in response to Uefa's ruling on the racist abuse directed at England players. #KickItOut pic.twitter.com/HvazZ8xjs4
— Kick It Out (@kickitout) October 29, 2019