UEFA throw the book at Montenegro; investigate Dynamo Kiev after incidents of racist chanting

UEFA have wasted no time in opening disciplinary procedures against Montenegro after multiple reports and complaints of racist chanting and abuse directed at England players Danny Rose and Callum Hudson-Odoi were made on Monday night. Hudson-Odoi, alongside Raheem Sterling and England boss Gareth Southgate called on UEFA to address this issue properly, with organizations such as Kick It Out and other teams such as Borussia Dortmund joining in support since.

On Tuesday, UEFA announced multiple charges against Montenegro, including racist behavior as well as the throwing of objects (Hudson-Odoi was apparently hit bit a lighter, too, for example), although punishments won’t be decided until the next meeting of the Disciplinary committee on May 16.

Disciplinary proceedings have been opened following the European Qualifiers group A match between Montenegro and England (1-5), played on 25 March in Montenegro.

Charges against Montenegro:
- Setting off of fireworks - Art. 16 (2) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations
- Throwing of objects - Art. 16 (2) DR
- Racist behaviour - Art. 14 DR
- Crowd disturbances - Art. 16 (2) DR
- Stairways blocked - Art. 38 of the UEFA Safety and Security Regulations

The case will be dealt with by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary on 16 May.

-source: UEFA

Earlier in the day, UEFA also announced that they have appointed an inspector for Chelsea’s complaint of racist behavior against Dynamo Kiev supporters in the Blues’ 5-0 win two weeks ago, a match in which Hudson-Odoi was also the target of racial abuse.

If the inspector finds sufficient evidence, Dynamo will be charged with similar violations of Article 14 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations as Montenegro.

Match: UEFA Europa League Round of 16 second-leg match between FC Dynamo Kyiv and Chelsea FC (0-5), played on 14 March in Ukraine

An Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector has been appointed to evaluate a complaint lodged by Chelsea FC about the alleged racist abuse of the player Callum Hudson-Odoi during the above-mentioned match.

The Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector will now evaluate whether or not there is sufficient evidence to open disciplinary proceedings against Dynamo Kyiv in accordance with Article 55(1)(f) and (2) of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations.

Information in respect of this evaluation will be made available in due course.

-source: UEFA

A similar investigation took about a month last time it involved Chelsea, though the inspector then found insufficient evidence to charge Chelsea themselves with racist behavior in the match against Vidi FC in Budapest.

While it’s heartening to see UEFA respond quickly to the events in Podgorica, Montenegro on Monday night, their historic responses and punishments in similar situations have proven largely insufficient. Hopefully that will change soon.