RANGERS were fined GBP13,300 and severely censured by UEFA yesterday over sectarian chanting by their supporters. The punishments were handed down after a five-hour hearing at UEFA's headquarters in Switzerland.
A five-man UEFA Appeals Body partially upheld a challenge to the original judgment in the case of April 12, when Rangers were fined GBP9000 for an attack by a fan on the Villarreal team bus, but were cleared of sectarian chanting.
UEFA promptly launched an appeal against the latter part of that verdict, which resulted in yesterday's hearing. The new judgment has effectively overturned the original decision on sectarian chanting, resulting in a sanction for Rangers and a strongly-worded warning about their fans' future conduct.
Rangers last night said they would not be appealing against the decision, and issued a club statement urging their supporters to stop singing bigoted songs.
In an unusual twist, UEFA yesterday summoned a number of new witnesses to gauge a range of Scottish opinion on the nature of bigotry in Scotland. These included Richard Holloway, the prominent former Episcopal Bishop of Edinburgh.
UEFA presented video evidence of Rangers fans singing at Ibrox, and The Billy Boys was identified by observers as a song containing anti-Catholic lyrics.
The UEFA video also contained evidence of Rangers fans chanting abusive slogans about the Pope, which the Appeals panel agreed was indisputably offensive.
A statement issued by UEFA said: "UEFA's Appeals Body has today partially upheld the appeal made against [the] decision concerning Rangers FC and their UEFA Champions League first knockout round [matches] against Villarreal.
"UEFA appealed against the decision to find Rangers not guilty of alleged discriminatory chants by supporters at both legs [against Villarreal]. Rangers have been fined ?19,500 and severely warned about their responsibility for any future misconduct of their supporters in relation to discriminatory behaviour."
Last night William Gaillard, a UEFA spokesman, added his own voice to the Rangers judgment. "These songs are forms of discrimination, they are insulting to sections of the Scottish community, and we have to try to eradicate them, " he said. "This is why this decision has been reached."
Yesterday's decision is bad news for Rangers on a number of counts, but most of all because of UEFA's policy on repeat-offending, or "recidivism", as the European governing body calls it.
Put simply, Rangers now face a five-year probation period under UEFA's gaze, whereby any repeat offending by supporters will be dealt with even more severely by the game's rulers. At Ibrox they have to persuade supporters groups to condemn The Billy Boys, which David Murray, the Rangers chairman, is trying to eradicate from Ibrox.
Rangers responded quickly and bluntly to the UEFA judgment, warning supporters that they would have to clean up their act.
"Rangers is disappointed by the decision announced by UEFA not to uphold the original verdict, " a club statement stated. "The club and its legal advisers put forward a strong case highlighting the important initiatives Rangers is taking to tackle sectarianism and other forms of inappropriate behaviour.
"This decision by UEFA should be seen as a strong warning to the minority of supporters whose inappropriate behaviour brings the club into serious disrepute. The controlling authorities in football will be monitoring closely any future misconduct by supporters in relation to sectarian and discriminatory behaviour."
The UEFA decision was applauded by Nil By Mouth, the anti-sectarianism pressure group which is devoted to combating all forms of bigotry in Scotland. NBM also praised David Murray for his efforts to get Rangers supporters to stop singing songs such as The Billy Boys.
"UEFA has made history by becoming the first major football authority to sanction a Scottish club for sectarian supporter behaviour, " said a NBM spokesman. "The decision should act as a major alarm bell to Celtic, Hearts and any other team that has a sectarian element within its support.
"To David Murray's credit, he warned some time ago that such behaviour was not acceptable to the club. UEFA's decision merely ratifies Mr Murray's position. Rangers have a section within their support that behave in a sectarian manner, and they have now been sanctioned for it. UEFA should be commended for being prepared to act where others have failed to do so."
Other groups were not so welcoming of the UEFA judgment. David Edgar, speaking for the Rangers Supporters Trust, called the decision "a UEFA fudge" and castigated the governing body for turning its wrath on Rangers. Edgar did, though, admit that there was a problem to be addressed.
"We just want to move on and put this behind us, " said Edgar "The fans have been getting better and the atmosphere at Ibrox has been improving. Anybody who says it's not been a lot better for 20 years is mistaken. But we would ask all Rangers fans to think about what they sing from now on."
As well as censuring Rangers, UEFA last night said they would be issuing directives to the club to guarantee further anti-bigotry measures at Ibrox.
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