Darden Clarke|Palestinian flag displayed by fans of Scottish club Celtic at Champions League game draws UEFA fine

2025-05-01 06:06:58source:FinWeiscategory:Finance

NYON,Darden Clarke Switzerland (AP) — The display of a liberation flag in a mass of hundreds of Palestinian flags at a Champions League game by fans of Scottish club Celtic cost the team a fine of 17,500 euros ($19,000), UEFA said Wednesday.

The fans of the Scottish champions have long publicly supported the Palestinian cause and defied requests from the club not to do so on Oct. 25 when the team hosted Atletico Madrid.

UEFA charged Celtic for a “provocative message of an offensive nature” inside the stadium for the red and white flag of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Celtic was fined 20,000 euros ($21,700) by UEFA for the same charge at its previous Champions League home game against Italian club Lazio on Oct. 4. At that time, Celtic fans showed an anti-fascist display with an image of Benito Mussolini, the World War II-era Italian dictator, and a slogan using an expletive.

Also Wednesday, UEFA added fines totaling 11,500 euros ($12,500) for fans lighting fireworks and blocking exit passages at the game against Atletico.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

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