UEFA charges CSKA for racism for 3rd time

CSKA fans clash with police during a Champions League, Group E match between Roma and CSKA, at the Olympic stadium, in Rome. (Alessandra Tarantino/AP)

NYON, Switzerland — UEFA has charged CSKA Moscow with racist behaviour by fans at a Champions League match for the third time in a year.

The Russian champion also faces charges over crowd disorder which halted play during a 5-1 loss at Roma last week, UEFA said in a statement on Tuesday.

Fans clashed with riot police at the Olympic Stadium, and the match was stopped for two minutes in the second half.

UEFA said its disciplinary panel will deal with the case on Oct. 3.

CSKA Moscow has now been charged with racist behaviour by its fans at three of its past five matches in Europe’s marquee competition.

UEFA already ordered CSKA to play Bayern Munich in an empty Arena Khimki stadium next Tuesday as an escalating punishment for offences committed last season.

Manchester City captain Yaya Toure directed the match referee to home fans making monkey noises during a Champions League match last October.

Then, CSKA and senior Russian football officials denied the abuse happened, and suggested a British conspiracy against the 2018 World Cup host nation. UEFA closed a section of the stadium for a subsequent home match against Bayern.

Last December, UEFA charged CSKA for fans displaying far-right symbols at a match at Viktoria Plzen, and imposed the stadium closure at its first home Champions league game this season.

CSKA has again been drawn in a group with Bayern and Man City, and hosts the English champion on Oct. 21.

In the latest case, CSKA and Roma face further UEFA sanctions for fans lighting flares and throwing missiles.

Roma is also charged for "insufficient organization" of the match under UEFA rules which make home clubs liable for security.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.