West Ham United, Jose Mourinho and Roma have been heavily punished by UEFA for various offences relating to last season’s Europa Conference League and Europa League finals. The governing body have opted to come down hard on the Hammers after one of their supporters struck Fiorentina defender Cristiano Biraghi with an object thrown from the stands during their historic victory in Prague earlier this month.
UEFA have since issued West Ham with a fine of £43,000 for ‘throwing of objects’, while the east Londoners will also be banned from selling tickets to away supporters for their next two European fixtures, the second of which is suspended for a period of two years. Another fine of £6,800 has been handed down to the Hammers for ‘invasion of the field of play’ after some supporters ran onto the pitch following the final whistle in Prague.
After a West Ham fan had left Fiorentina star Biraghi’s head pouring with blood by throwing an object during the UEFA Europa Conference League final, the club issued an apology condemning the actions of their supporters. It read:
“West Ham United unreservedly condemn the behaviour of a small number of individuals who threw objects onto the pitch during tonight’s UEFA Europa Conference League final. These actions have no place in football, and do not in any way represent the values of our football club and the overwhelming majority of our supporters, who have behaved impeccably in Prague this week and throughout our last two seasons in European competition.
“We will work with the Police and other stakeholders to review the incidents and act against anyone found guilty of an offence. In line with our zero-tolerance approach, anyone identified will have their details passed to the police and will be given an indefinite ban and therefore be unable to enter London Stadium and travel with the club. There is no place for this kind of behaviour at West Ham United.”
Roma, meanwhile, have also been fined £70,000 for ‘lighting of fireworks, throwing of objects, acts of damage and crowd disturbances’ during their Europa League final defeat to Sevilla. The Italian heavyweights will also be banned from selling tickets for their next away game in UEFA competition on top of a separate £4,300 fine for the ‘improper conduct of the team’.
UEFA went on to order Roma to contact the Hungarian Football Federation within 30 days for the settlement of the damages caused by its supporters, with the money set to go towards fixing ‘broken bins, paper boxes, glasses, cable plugs and the two broken seats’.
A partial stadium closure was also handed down to Roma for their next European match for the throwing of objects during their Europa League semi-final victory over Bayer Leverkusen.
The governing body have also opted to punish Jose Mourinho for directing abusive language towards referee Anthony Taylor, both during the game and outside the stadium after the final whistle. The former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss has been suspended for the next four UEFA matches ‘in which he would otherwise participate’ for his conduct and the language used when remonstrating with Taylor.
Mourinho had furiously confronted Taylor in the car park following his side’s loss to Sevilla and labelled the official a ‘f***ing disgrace’ in unsavoury scenes. The English ref and his family were then mobbed by a group of Roma hoodlums inside the terminal at Budapest Airport and escorted by police officers.
Fiorentina and Basel have also been handed fines for the behaviour of their fans and players in the UEFA Europa Conference League semi-final ties.
