Madrid penalised for fan behaviour in City CL clash

Real Madrid have been hit with a €30,000 ($31,130) fine and a partial stadium closure — suspended for two years — by UEFA over “discriminatory behaviour” by fans in their Champions League game with Manchester City at the Bernabéu last month.

Madrid beat City 3-1 in the Champions League knockout phase playoff second leg on Feb. 19, with forward Kylian Mbappé scoring a hat trick, as Madrid progressed to the round of 16 with an aggregate score of 6-3.

UEFA’s Appeals Body published the decision on Friday, citing a breach of article 14 of its Disciplinary Regulations, which sanctions “any person … who insults the human dignity of a person or group of persons on whatever grounds, including skin colour, race, religion, ethnic origin, gender or sexual orientation.”

UEFA did not specify the nature of the fan behaviour which had led to the punishment.

As well as the €30,000 fine, Madrid were penalised with a partial closure of the Bernabéu of “at least 500 adjacent seats” suspended for a probationary period of two years.

The closure would be enforced “if a further offence of a similar nature is committed during the probationary period,” UEFA said.

Real Madrid will play Atlético Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie at the Bernabéu on Tuesday.