He was though at pains to point out that racism is a widespread issue and not unique to Chelsea. “It’s easy to point now at the Chelsea supporters that did that,” he said. “Unfortunately this happens in many places. It’s true it happened this weekend, we cannot deny that, but to point the finger at one football club because of that I think it’s really unfair.”
If Stavrev has included the incident in his report and Uefa launch an investigation, Chelsea would not be expected to receive a full stadium ban given this would be their first stadium-related offence. Last week’s alleged racist abuse of Sterling would not be considered as it happened in the Premier League.
But Article 14 of Uefa’s regulations is clear that part of Stamford Bridge would have to be closed for future European matches if they are found guilty. It states that: “If a club’s supporters engage in the behaviour that insults the human dignity of a person or group of persons on whatever grounds, including skin colour, race, religion or ethnic origin, the member association or club responsible is punished with a minimum of a partial stadium closure.”
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