3 Match European Ban

[ian1964 10,416]

UEFA has issued the reasoning behind its disciplinary decision against Scottish club Rangers FC, announced yesterday.

 

Fined for incidents

The European body fined Rangers FC €13,000 for incidents at their UEFA Champions League first knockout round tie against Spanish outfit Villarreal CF last month.

 

Crowd disturbances

UEFA's Control and Disciplinary Body imposed the fine on Rangers following the improper conduct of some of their supporters, notably the smashing of a window of the Villarreal team bus at the second-leg match in Spain on 7 March.

 

Not guilty

The body declared the Rangers fans not guilty of alleged discriminatory chants at both legs of the tie, which Villarreal won on the away-goals rule after the two sides had finished 3-3 on aggregate. The body’s decision can be appealed against within three days.

 

Social problem

In examining the alleged discriminatory chants, the Control & Disciplinary Body admitted that the nature of the song concerned – “Billy Boys” - related to a social problem in Scotland. The body also believed that the disciplinary decision in this case had to be taken in the context of Scotland’s social and historical background.

 

Studied evidence

After studying the evidence at hand as well as the statement of Rangers FC, the Control & Disciplinary Body conceded that supporters have been singing the song "Billy Boys" for years during national and international matches without either the Scottish football or governmental authorities being able to intervene. The result is that this song is now somehow tolerated.

 

Social and historical context

Given this social and historical context, the Control & Disciplinary Body said it considered that UEFA cannot demand an end to behaviour which has been tolerated for years. In view of the above, the Control & Disciplinary Body ruled that, despite the behaviour of its supporters, Rangers FC had not infringed Article 5 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (click here) and cannot be punished according to Article 6

 

http://www.uefa.com/uefa/footballfirst/matchorganisation/disciplinary/news/newsid=413514.html

[pete 2,499]

But pete, both your policeman arresting for breach and ref booking someone are not good examples - both of those instances require ACTIONS, probably physical (in the case of the booking it is laying down the rules) - but the fans chanting requires an understanding of the language, or at least it should.

 

I think you will find the ref or police don't have to understand a language Craig it is the aggression and tone it is said in. I know that community singing is not sung with aggression per se but the text is of an aggressive nature. Someone complained to UEFA and on looking at the text it was banned.

Again it is not only Rangers it is also happening in Holland with an Ado player getting a ban for singing we are going on a Jew hunt after they beat Ajax. Funny enough one of the Dutch football presenters stated that Rangers and Celtic had a right to sing religious songs as it was a part of our history but he stated he had no idea why Ajax supporters call themselves Jews as it had nothing to do with the history of the club.

[Zappa 0]

I think you will find the ref or police don't have to understand a language Craig it is the aggression and tone it is said in. I know that community singing is not sung with aggression per se but the text is of an aggressive nature. Someone complained to UEFA and on looking at the text it was banned.

Again it is not only Rangers it is also happening in Holland with an Ado player getting a ban for singing we are going on a Jew hunt after they beat Ajax. Funny enough one of the Dutch football presenters stated that Rangers and Celtic had a right to sing religious songs as it was a part of our history but he stated he had no idea why Ajax supporters call themselves Jews as it had nothing to do with the history of the club.

 

Certain clubs have been fined heavily for their fans racism in recent years pete, Zenit being a good example as they were heavily fined by UEFA 2 or 3 years ago for monkey chants and bananas and were also fined by their own football association this week for a banana being thrown at Roberto Carlos. Having said that, Zenit weren't fined a lot this week. It was actually pennies for a club like theirs.

[CumbernauldGers 0]

LOLOL. Mate are you saying that the UEFA delegate at every Euro match can speak both tongues?

 

Legally yes. Or what would be the point in them being there?

[CumbernauldGers 0]

But pete, both your policeman arresting for breach and ref booking someone are not good examples - both of those instances require ACTIONS, probably physical (in the case of the booking it is laying down the rules) - but the fans chanting requires an understanding of the language, or at least it should.

 

 

Thank god mate somebody gets my point.

[Zappa 0]

Funny enough one of the Dutch football presenters stated that Rangers and Celtic had a right to sing religious songs as it was a part of our history but he stated he had no idea why Ajax supporters call themselves Jews as it had nothing to do with the history of the club.

 

Is that not just like Dundee Utd calling themselves Arabs?

[pete 2,499]

I think what most Rangers fans want is a sense of justice. At the recent OF game there were many thousands singing TBB, many of whom did so in the full knowledge it would be heavily criticized but who harbour a profound feeling of playing patsy in a rigged game and saw the singing as a way of fighting back. These same fans have mostly avoided singing TBB out of care for their club for a longtime but still chose to use it as a gesture of defiance against those who have contrived the sitiation we find ourselves in.

 

It's inequality of justice that lies at the heart of this whole issue and that problem won't be solved by boycotting TBB, whether ot not you advocate singing it or not.

 

Only the club has the key to this. Rangers fans have been vilified for years, mostly without real justification, and many feel abandoned by the club they support. Not because the club rightly tries to curb bad behaviour but because the club fails to challenge our detractors when it's obvious a great deal (all) of the so-called offence being caused is completely manufactured.

 

TBB may have traditional value but I personally doubt it would be a problem for most fans to let it go - so long as there was a belief that all clubs would be treated equally. We know that's not the case today and this will continue to be a problem for the club until the club decides to get into the fight.

 

Surely the club fought the ban twice with UEFA winning the first one and losing the appeal. As far as I know we had no right more for a reverse appeal.

 

Is TBB really a tradition of Rangers football club or a group of supporters. Does the club really have to fight against the banning of a song that in principle has totally no connection to the club itself?

[Bears 0]

Legally yes. Or what would be the point in them being there?

 

 

What law is it under?

[CumbernauldGers 0]

What law is it under?

 

Thats a good point, there is not any just UEFA. They will get away with anything. But tbh how do you think the tims beat the SFA? They warned them that they would take it the whole way and SFA backed down.

[craig 5,199]

Thats a good point, there is not any just UEFA. They will get away with anything. But tbh how do you think the tims beat the SFA? They warned them that they would take it the whole way and SFA backed down.

 

Difference being that SFA screwed themselves with their own legisation. Also, UEFA's financial pockets are far deeper than SFA's - UEFA wont care quite so much about the legal expense.