Pro Patria punished for abuse

Italian club Pro Patria have been ordered to play one match behind closed doors following the racist chanting of their fans during a friendly with AC Milan.

Last Updated: 08/01/13 at 22:23 Post Comment

Kevin-Prince Boeteng: Subject of racist abuse

Kevin-Prince Boeteng: Subject of racist abuse

Kevin-Prince Boateng stormed off the pitch after 26 minutes of the match, closely followed by his team-mates, after he was abused by fans of the fourth division side and the match was abandoned as a result.

The Lega Pro, the governing body for Italian football's third and fourth tiers, have ordered them to play a game behind closed doors having noted that Pro Patria were fined £4,000 earlier this season over "similar incidents".

The verdict read: "(The Lega Pro) will impose on the club Aurora Pro Patria

the sanction of the obligation to play a league match behind closed doors, with

immediate effect, with the caveat that further breach will be evaluated as an

occurrence of multiple violations, for the purposes of the subsequent

sanction."

In explaining the decision, the governing body wrote that the incident was particularly serious as it occurred during a friendly and thus could not be "mitigated" by "competitive tension and competitive spirit".

The statement continued: "The penalty to be imposed for incidents of this nature must be not only punitive but also preventative in order to avoid repetition of the episodes themselves.

"In the current season, the Pro Patria club have already been fined for similar incidents with the fine of 5,000 euros (referring to a verdict released on October 30).

"That previous sanction has been shown to be ineffective by this recidivist behaviour."

Following last week's incident FIFA President Sepp Blatter advised players encountering racial abuse not to walk off.

Footballers' union leader Theo van Seggelen agreed with Blatter.

Italian football federation president Giancarlo Abete said that the best solution would be keeping racist fans out of stadiums, but that "if necessary, suspending matches temporarily or definitively is OK."

Related News

Sky Bet

    • Retrieving latest Sky Bet odds

Most Commented

Readers' Comments

B

e afraid...be very afraid.

dalglishdagger
Kinnear: I'll make Magpies better

S

ome people just don't suit hats.

big dave
Rio targets something special

W

ould like to have a Men in Black memory eraser to make me forget that this whole Bebe thing ever happened.

darkmavis10
Bebe seeking Sporting switch

Footer 365

Dave Whelan has promised any revenue from player sales to Owen Coyle

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan says any cash generated by player sales this summer will be made available to Owen Coyle.

JK: I'm smarter than Toon Army

Joe Kinnear has risked alienating the Newcastle fans further by claiming to have "more intelligence than them".

Transfer News: Corinthians claim Tottenham are interested in Paulinho

Corinthians director Duilio Monteiro Alves claims Tottenham Hotspur hold an interest in midfielder Paulinho.

Mail Box

Well, This Isn't A Very Good Mailbox

No disrespect & all that to those included, but come on people, you can do better than this. Are you all sleeping? Is there really nothing you want to talk about? Please?

BAU At Newcastle United Clown College...

Newcastle fans aren't happy about Joe Kinnear's appointment as the club's new director of football. Plus, more chocolate football and a love letter to Fernando Redondo...

© 2013 British Sky Broadcasting Ltd. All Rights Reserved