The director of the stadium at which fans were racially abused during Dynamo Kiev’s game against Chelsea last week believes segregated grounds could be the answer to racism in the stands.
Advertisement
The incident was captured on camera by the organisation Football Against Racism in Europe.
“There aren’t enough black fans in Kiev – in the whole of Kiev, let alone attending Dynamo Kiev – to have a separate stand. And if there were we’d know what would happen”.
Warning: viewers may find this video distressing.
“The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) has made a decision to appoint a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector to conduct an investigation with regard to the facts of the present proceedings”, said a UEFA statement.
Uefa had already opened disciplinary proceedings against Dynamo Kyiv on three charges including one of racist behaviour by supporters at the Olympic Stadium in the Ukrainian capital. Spilchenko said it was a good idea and the stadium would consider doing so “to avoid racism”.
Anti-discrimination chief Piara Powar has reacted with incredulity at Dynamo Kiev considering a proposal to segregate supporters based on their skin colour.
However, The Guardian reports that Dynamo Kiev’s stadium has since posted a message on Facebook accusing the media of ignoring the rest of Spilchenko’s reply to the question. A number of Ukrainian fans and journalists expressed outrage at the comments on social networks.
But after the incident against Chelsea, Ukraine Football Federation vice-president Ohor Kochetov denied that there was a problem with racism at the Olimpiyskiy Stadium and questioned the motives of the black men who were seen being attacked in the footage.
“People of that category (black people) have never been there”. Initial information indicates that these people were without tickets and were holding flares.
Advertisement
“Maybe this was a specially planned provocation”.
