Bayern Munich hit with partial stadium closure for homophobic banner.

Bayern Munich have been sanctioned with a partial closure of their stadium for the Champions League quarter-final against Manchester United after fans displayed a homophobic banner against Arsenal.

UEFA's control and disciplinary body ordered that the section of the stadium where the banner was displayed should be closed for the second leg against United.

The club have also been fined 10,000 euros for the "discriminatory behaviour" over the banner, which also targeted Arsenal's German midfielder Mesut Ozil.

UEFA said in a statement that as a result of "Bayern supporters... displaying of an illicit banner, the UEFA control and disciplinary body has decided to order the partial closure of the [stadium] in particular, the closure of sector 124 for Bayern's next UEFA competition home match, namely their UEFA Champions League quarter-final second leg against Manchester United on April 9."

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The arrest of a lawyer in Brazil for the death of a rival supporter.

The former chairman of the fans of Atletico Paranaense , the lawyer Juliano Rodrigues , was arrested Saturday in Curitiba, accused of killing in 2012 to a 16-year supporter of the opposing team Paraná Club.

Tests have shown that the bullet found in the body of the young man came from a gun belonging to the lawyer of 42, as indicated by the commissioner Clovis Galvao , quoted on the website for ' Balloon ' .

The July 1, 2012 , an individual aboard a car fired at a group of 70 fans in the Paraná Club, gathered outside the team's headquarters in Curitiba (capital of Paraná) , mortally wounding the teen Gonceiro Diego .

Fans' Violence is one of the main concerns of Brazil to the next celebration this summer, the World Cup in 12 host cities .

Last December, 20 Brazilian fans were arrested following a violent fight during a decisive match of the Brazilian Championship . Some defendants face sentences of 6-20 years in prison.

President Dilma Rousseff did not hide his frustration over the incident : "The country of football can not tolerate violence in the stadiums," he said.

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The Milan ULTRAS write a letter to Giorgio Armani.

A month away from the peaceful protest on 11 February in Milan Ultras took pen and paper and wrote to Giorgio Armani.

" We are writing this on behalf of its most ardent supporters who have strongly backed his landing in society and that since his arrival at the Olympia have never failed to support you and thank you for having made ​​this choice - the message - . Unfortunately, as a result of what happened during the training team on 11 February we ask you in a speech to Our protection and to try to create a climate of peaceful coexistence and productive at the next meeting of the club .

If it had not yet been informed of the happenings Le summarize everything.

Following the deludentissima performance with Sassari , the curve has unanimously decided to express their disappointment directly to the team and at the same time to invite the company to be more vigilant on the behavior of players outside of racing , or at least watch the best " utterances public " of certain behaviors following results as that obtained in the Italian Cup that appeared disrespectful to the fans.

Although Our choice was not appreciated by players and managers to present its " mode " , for our part was a necessary act and consistent with our way of thinking and in full respect of freedom of expressing an opinion .

During the meeting we explained our reasons , we listened to the various excuses and , to be fair , even some acceptable excuse .

The meeting never took vulgar tones and in no way whatsoever threatening or violent behavior .

Unfortunately due to our mere presence training, in the following days most of the people that have been identified by the police and are now under investigation as a result of A COMPLAINT TO THE COMPANY OLYMPIA PRIVATE VIOLENCE !

Players and managers may esserLe witnessed what descrittoLe and although they emphasize the inappropriateness of our initiative in their view , can not refrain from confirming the absolute LACK OF VIOLENCE in our ways .

With this letter we ask you to personally ascertain what was said and if necessary to verify the actual existence of a complaint.

The future of his 37 supporters depends on it because, if there were no such complaint or in the case was withdrawn , would decay all proceedings against them and would not be forced to a forced removal from the meetings Olimpia for periods ranging from 1 to 5 years who honestly seem to us a blunder for simply expressed a critique of Our beloved Olympia.

With the hope of a deeper your kind and timely intervention greet you with affection and we make ourselves available for any meeting at any time you wish . "

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ANGRI-PRO Scafatese, BANS LAST MINUTE

With comfortable , with very comfortable , not caring of the fans who had already set in motion the organizers , in spite of those who perhaps had already been exposed by blocking deposit for bus or vans , the prefecture has ordered that the race between Angri and Scafatese , valid for the championship of Excellence Bell group B, yes you dispute the " Novi " but without visiting fans . The doors of the sector in charge , will remain locked for the fans Scafatesi for , say , structural problems. Of course , if the sector is down , you do not understand how they did it only to discover it and proclaim it to close behind the race, with little respect for those fans who still insist to love this sport controlled by inept. In all this, however , a small distinction must be made for the company's home that, at least according to official statements to the press or on its website , has sought to work towards opening up the opposition fans .
A derby that , in his small, it is a challenge that has its own special charm , even more so at this crucial time of the season. It will therefore be a party in half, as often happens lately, unfortunately. That was until the other half of diehards will not get tired and start to leave them alone with their arrogance , their restrictions , their stupid bureaucracy and their 22 trained monkeys that run back and forth with a ball. Without football atmosphere is zero , who knows if and when it ever will understand.

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Ultras to help police securing football games in Ukraine.

If you’re old enough to remember the infamous Altamont rock concert back in December of 1969 in Northern California, you’ll probably remember the huge mistake that was made when the Rolling Stones hired the local chapter of the Hell’s Angels to look after security. The gang was paid with $500 worth of beer. Well, all hell broke loose at the free concert and it ended in the murder of one gun-toting concertgoer when he was stabbed to death by one of the bikers.

If you’re wondering what this has to do with soccer, well the same mistake could be made in Ukraine this weekend when hardcore fans, known as ultras, will be helping police stadiums in the volatile nation when the domestic league returns from its eight-week winter break. In many people’s eyes the ultras are more or less thugs and hooligans and bring nothing but shame to the beautiful game.

Ukraine is in political turmoil at the moment as there are Russian forces over in Crimea and some residents want to rejoin Russia while others would rather join the European Union. There have been numerous violent demonstrations over the past couple of months with dozens of lives lost. However, the soccer league is adamant on returning to action even though it’s two weeks later than scheduled. Crimean teams scheduled to play, two weeks later than originally planned following a two-month winter break.

Dmytro Bulatov, who is the Ukrainian youth and sports minister, said ultras from various clubs will help out with stadium security and will work hand in hand with law enforcement officers. Bulatov stated, “In view of the tense situation in the country, we shall bolster security in the stadiums with civic groups. In particular and based on my proposal, the ultras agreed to a mechanism for coordinating with law enforcement bodies in cases of emergency to avoid any incidents and provocations during the conduct of football matches.”

Supposedly there’s been a truce between opposing ultras since January when the anti-government rioting hit the streets in Kiev. Hopefully that’s the case or this could turn into a very messy situation at Ukrainian soccer stadiums.

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Football hooligan jailed and handed six-year match ban after brawl

A “high risk” football hooligan who tried to start a fight with rival fans outside a Premiership stadium before brawling with police was jailed on Wednesday.

Dundee United fan Lee Stewart was also handed a six-year football banning order after goading Patrick Thistle supporters outside his club’s Tannadice ground in November.

Stewart was already banned from matches and had been previously jailed for football related disorder at the time of the incident.

Football liaison prosecutor Vicky Bell told Dundee Sheriff Court that Stewart had earlier been seen in the vicinity of the stadium before the match by cops doing routine checks.

Stewart, who was known to police as a “high risk” supporter, told them he had no intention of going to the game, which United won 4-1.

The fiscal depute said that at the end of the match, around 4.45pm, Stewart was then seen by officers outside the ground near where Partick Thistle supporters buses were parked.

She said: “Partick Thistle fans were making their way to their buses and the accused was shouting at them and challenging them to fight.

“The accused saw police officers and ran off back towards Tannadice Street. He was then knocked to the ground by a steward.

“Police caught up with him and told him he was arrested. He shouted ‘come on then you c***s’”

Ms Bell added that Stewart then struggled with officers while shouting and swearing and uttering threats.

She added: “However, he was outnumbered and was arrested.”

Stewart, 21, of Baldovie Gardens, Dundee, pleaded guilty on summary complaint to one charge under the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Act, and a second of resisting, obstructing or hindering two police officers.

Lemmy Milne, 16, of Maule Street, Carnoustie, and Cameron Healy, 17, of Kingennie Court, Dundee, had their not guilty pleas to the charges accepted by the Crown.

Theo Finlay, defending, said: “He has a record for football offences. He’s now 21-years-old and is clearly attracted to this sort of activity. He can’t keep away from this sort of trouble.”

Sheriff Alistair Brown jailed Stewart for nine months and imposed a football banning order banning him from matches for six years.

Gary Mackay-Steven scored twice in the 4-1 win for Dundee United with Brian Graham and Andrew Robertson also netting.

An Aaron Muirhead penalty had levelled the scores at 1-1 before three goals in 15 minutes won the match for the Tannadice club.

Source; stv

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