March 1 – Chelsea will be breathing a huge sigh of relief at escaping the possibility of having to play behind closed doors after UEFA decided no action would be taken against the club for alleged anti-Semitic chanting by their fans in a Europa League game in Hungary in December.
The club were charged with racist behaviour by a small minority of fans during the fixture against Vidi in Budapest.
However after a meeting of UEFA’s Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body on Thursday it was announced that it had been decided to “close the disciplinary proceedings against Chelsea FC”.
Chelsea released a strongly-worded statement after the match questioning the “brainpower” of the supporters involved and making it clear that the chant – partly directed towards Tottenham Hotspur fans – “shamed the club” and was “abhorrent”.
Chelsea, who host Dynamo Kiev in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie next Thursday, could have faced a partial closure of Stamford Bridge in European competition if found guilty – but there was little explanation from UEFA for the decision which, presumably, was down to lack of evidence.
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