UEFA Risk Dangerous Message If Kompany Concern on Moscow Fans Not Addressed

After Manchester City’s 2-2 draw with CSKA Moscow, a result which leaves their Champions League hopes firmly in the balance, Vincent Kompany criticised UEFA for allowing home fans into the ground, despite it being deemed a behind-closed-doors game prior to kick-off, as reported by BBC Sport.

UEFA decided to ban supporters from entering the stadium after the misconduct of CSKA fans in the recent match with Roma. Racist chanting was heard in the stands, not for the first time at the Khimki Arena, and UEFA acted by insisting their next three matches should be played in front of an empty stadium.  

However, according to Jamie Jackson writing in The Guardian, around 350 CSKA supporters attended the match on Tuesday after being invited by UEFA as part of their "Champions Club," many of whom were draped in club colours and cheering on their team. It left the City captain frustrated at what he perceived to be unfair treatment of his side’s fans.

He said:

"

It is little things like, there aren’t meant to be any fans there, but there are still 500 fans there for them.

That isn’t a problem but I don’t understand where our fans are. Why can’t we bring our fans in?

The only team being punished here is Manchester City. Little things where I feel we need to speak up sometimes, because it’s nonsense.

They are the team that got done for racism, not Man City, so why can’t our fans come? If there are 200 or 300 people allowed in for money (sponsorship) issues, then where are our fans?

"

Kompany, who has become a trusted spokesman for the club in his role as captain, is right to suggest it was unfair for CSKA to end up with a large contingent of fairly noisy supporters while City fans were nowhere to be seen.

Why should City’s away contingent be punished for the bigotry of others? It hardly seems fair that a side who have been repeatedly accused of racist chanting, including in last season's match with City when Yaya Toure was a target, can have some supporters in the stadium, but City, whose fans are yet to cause any issues during away trips in Europe, are banned completely.

But it also points to a wider problem: UEFA’s refusal to take racism seriously.

Despite the huge strides made in stamping racism out of the game, the problem still persists, with Russian football a repeat offender. UEFA need to punish sides firmly if they are to remove racial discrimination from football and send a message to the world that racism has no place in sport or society.

In 2012, City were fined £25,000 by UEFA for coming out for the second half of their match with Sporting Lisbon a few minutes late, but Porto, whose fans had been found guilty of racially abusing former City forward Mario Balotelli earlier that year, received a paltry £17,000 punishment.

A list of further ridiculous double standards and weak punishments handed out by UEFA are outlined in this Oliver Holt piece in The Mirror, including the £65,000 fine given to the Serbian FA after England's under-21 side were subjected to vile racist chants during a match in 2012.

Nicklas Bendtner, let's not forget, was handed an £80,000 fine for revealing the name of a bookmaker who wasn't a certified sponsor of a UEFA event.

And it isn’t just UEFA who are guilty of lacking credibility in dealing with racism. In 2012, Zenit St. Petersburg were fined £2,100 for racist chanting, including monkey noises towards Lokomotiv Moscow’s black players, despite Spartak Moscow's Nigerian international, Emmanuel Emenike, being fined £11,000 for making an offensive gesture towards Dynamo Moscow fans who were racially abusing him during a game.

That comparison alone underlines the mixed messages some governing bodies send and the lack of seriousness they display where racism is concerned.

These are by no means isolated incidents across Europe. Italian football is also still suffering from a racism problem on the terraces, with Balotelli suffering hugely during his time at AC Milan, and only until UEFA and the leaders of domestic leagues get serious about tackling the issue will our game be free from bigotry.

One thing is clear: the punishment UEFA handed to CSKA—one which effectively damaged City more than the Russian side—is no way to deal with the problem.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and will be following the club from a Manchester base throughout the 2014-15 season. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter: @RobPollard.