CSKA Moscow must close part of stadium after racist abuse

Manchester City’s Yaya Toure abused in Champions League match last week

CSKA Moscow fans support their team during their Champions League match against Manchester City. Photograph: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters
CSKA Moscow fans support their team during their Champions League match against Manchester City. Photograph: Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

CSKA Moscow must close part of their stadium for their next Champions League home game following the racist abuse hurled at Manchester City's Yaya Toure by the Russian club's fans last week.

The Ivorian said he was racially insulted during City’s 2-1 match at CSKA last week and added that black players could boycott the 2018 World Cup in Russia if the country does not tackle the issue.

Uefa’s disciplinary panel ordered the closure of sector D of the Arena Khimki for the match against Bayern Munich in Moscow on November 27th.

Toure reported the incidents to the referee during the game but no action was taken even though match officials have been told to follow Uefa’s guidelines, set down in 2009, in such cases.

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The guidelines call for play to be stopped and a warning to be broadcast over the public address system. Ultimately, officials have to power to call off the game if the abuse continues.

On Friday, Uefa president Michel Platini ordered an internal inquiry into why Romanian referee Ovidiu Hategan and his assistants did not follow them.

CSKA said they were “surprised and disappointed” by Toure’s allegations of racism.

Toure, who speaks Russian after spending two years playing in Ukraine for Metallurg Donetsk, said the abuse he experienced in Moscow was worse than anything he had encountered in Ukraine.