NYON, Switzerland — French club Lyon and Turkey’s Besiktas have been given suspended one-season bans from European competition following crowd trouble at their Europa League quarterfinal.
UEFA said in a statement Wednesday that both clubs would be excluded from the next competition for which they qualified – with the ban being deferred for a probationary period of two years.
The clubs were also fined 100,000 euros ($107,000) each after fireworks were lit and missiles were thrown at Lyon’s stadium before the first-leg match on April 13. The trouble followed fighting among French and Turkish fans in the city earlier in the day.
About 20 minutes before the scheduled kickoff, Lyon fans spilled on to the field for their own safety after the fireworks were set off and missiles were lobbed from an upper section of the stadium containing Besiktas supporters.
The game finally began 45 minutes late after police intervened in the stands.
UEFA’s control, ethics and disciplinary body considered "that the supporters of both clubs were responsible for the crowd disturbances" at the match.
"The charges against the French club were related to crowd disturbances, setting off of fireworks, stairways blocked, insufficient organization and field invasion by supporters after their second goal," UEFA said. The charges against Besiktas were related to crowd disturbances, the setting off of fireworks and the throwing of objects.
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