Bulgaria ordered to partially close stadium against England following fan racism

Bulgaria have been ordered to partially close their national stadium for Euro 2020 qualifiers against England and Czech Republic following racist behaviour by fans.

UEFA on Friday announced sanctions following incidents of racism in Bulgaria’s past two matches in June, at home to Kosovo and away to Czech Republic.

For the incident in the Czech Republic match, Bulgaria have been told to make 5,000 seats in the Vasil Levski stadium unavailable to supporters for the October 14 clash with England.

In the empty space, the Bulgarian Football Union has been told to display an “#EqualGame” UEFA banner.

The same banner will be in place for the November 17 match against Czech Republic, with 3,000 seats closed off to supporters as punishment for behaviour in the Kosovo game.

UEFA closed disciplinary proceedings against Latvia for alleged racist behaviour in their clash with Israel last month, but the Romania Under-21 team will see at least 2,000 seats closed for their next home match.

This comes following racist behaviour by fans at the Romanian youngsters’ European Under-21 Championship win over Croatia last month, and the Romanian Football Federation has been fined €2,000 due to fireworks and objects being thrown.

UEFA also fined Greece €63,500 and Ukraine €15,250 for offences including the setting off of fireworks.

The Greece match against Italy on June 8 also included a late kick-off, for which disciplinary proceedings against head coach Angelos Anastasiadis have been closed.