advertisement

Red Star Belgrade fans at Tottenham game despite racism ban

LONDON (AP) - Red Star Belgrade coach Vladan Milojevic thanked the club's fans for finding a way to circumvent a ban from attending the Champions League match at Tottenham as part of a sanction for racist chanting from UEFA.

Hundreds of Red Star fans found a way to get tickets to seat in a home section behind one of the goals at the north London stadium and were singing from early in the game.

Stadium security and police eventually surrounded the fans but they stayed throughout their team's 5-0 loss on Tuesday but officials determined the group was too large to eject.

Tottenham will investigate how the tickets were obtained and planned to take action against fans found to have sold them to Red Star fans.

Milojevic said he was "not surprised" to hear from Red Star fans in the Group B game.

"There are many of our fans, some of them live in this country, in London, or maybe surrounding countries and for them Red Star is a very important club," Milojevic said. "It's a love that they feel for the club, I can't describe this with words, this sort of love.

"People came, I'm sure they weren't organized as a group. Just like at Liverpool (in October 2018), we had a ban. There were very few fans tonight but we could hear them. Again, I thank them for their support."

But it could lead to a new disciplinary case from UEFA, which declined comment.

___

More AP soccer: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

People applaud Tottenham's Son Heung-min as he walks off the pitch during the Champions League, group B, soccer match between Tottenham and Red Star Belgrade, at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium in London, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019. (AP Photo/Ian Walton) The Associated Press
Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.