Soccer-UEFA charge Sparta Prague after alleged racial abuse
(Reuters) - Sparta Prague have been charged by European soccer's governing body UEFA over discriminatory behaviour following alleged racist abuse from the Czech club's fans during their Champions League game against AS Monaco.
Monaco beat Sparta Prague 2-0 in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round, with France Under-21 international Aurelien Tchouameni scoring the opener for the Ligue 1 club.
Tchouameni and his team mates then went over to Monaco manager Niko Kovac and UEFA officials, alleging racist chanting from the crowd being directed towards him.
In line with UEFA protocols, the game was held up for three minutes, after which a message on the Letna Stadium screen warned that further abuse would lead to the game being stopped.
UEFA said in a statement https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/disciplinary/updates/026c-12ed75e6e079-f08c6ab1ebc0-1000--uefa-champions-league-ac-sparta-praha-v-as-monaco-fc on Thursday it had also charged Sparta Prague for provocative offensive messages and throwing of objects. "The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) will decide on the matter in due course," it added.
Tchouameni said on Twitter "monkey noises" were aimed at him when he celebrated his goal and that he received death threats after the incident.
"I celebrated my goal, same way as usual, and monkey noises were thrown around me," Tchouameni wrote on Twitter https://twitter.com/atchouameni/status/1422963489711271947.
"The hateful messages and death threats I received won't get to my head. I won't let hate win this game... We know the drill. There will be a buzz for one or two days and then we will move on until the next one.
"Taking a stand against racism is easy. Taking action is something else."
The return leg in Monaco will be played on Aug. 10.
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
