SoccerNews.com

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday halved a fine for Atletico Madrid to 75,000 euros (94,000 dollars) after its fans chanted racist insults during a Champions League fixture against Marseille last month.

But the court said that Atletico's upcoming Champions League match in their Vicente Calderon stadium against PSV Eindhoven on November 26 will still have to be played behind closed doors.

“I did not expect this sanction because we believe that Atletico has not committed any crime and when you haven't done anything, there is no reason to sanction you,” said Atletico Madrid president Enrique Cerezo in comments published on the club's website.

“We appealed to CAS and now we have to respect the decision and cary it out. We can't appeal to anyone else. Now we have to think of our objectives, we have to defeat PSV and do a good job to qualify to the next round.”

European football's top governing body UEFA had initially imposed a two-match spectators ban and a fine of 150,000 euros, but then reduced it to a one-match ban. Atletico still appealed the ruling to CAS.

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