Geneva: CSKA Moscow will have to play Bayern Munich in a partially closed stadium as punishment after their fans racially abused Manchester City players in a Champions League match.
UEFA's disciplinary panel found the Russian champions guilty Wednesday for their fans' "racist behavior" during City's 2-1 win in Moscow last week, and applied the UEFA-recommended sanction for a club's first offense.
City captain Yaya Toure directed referee Ovidiu Hategan toward fans making monkey noises at the English club's black players.
The Romanian referee is also being investigated by UEFA for not interrupting the match to order a stadium announcement, warning fans about their behavior.
CSKA's punishment applies to Section D at Arena Khimki when defending champion Bayern visits on Nov. 27. UEFA can choose to appeal to impose a tougher sanction. "All forms of racist behavior are considered serious offences against the disciplinary regulations and are punished with the most severe sanctions," UEFA said in a statement.
CSKA is the ninth club to be punished by UEFA this season for racist behavior by fans at Champions League or Europa League matches after tougher penalties were agreed upon in May.
Dinamo Zagreb and Legia Warsaw have been convicted of repeated offenses and ordered to play one match in an empty stadium. Six clubs had partial closures imposed for first offenses: Lazio, APOEL Nicosia, Honved, Lech Poznan, Piast Gliwice and Rijeka.
UEFA did not fine CSKA, which has already earned prize money of 8.6 million euros ($11.8 million) just for qualifying for the group stage.
UEFA opened a disciplinary case based on a formal complaint by City, and reports from Hategan and match delegate Tormod Larsen of Norway.
However, UEFA President Michel Platini requested an internal inquiry involving the referee to examine why the protocol was not followed to respond to discrimination incidents during matches.
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