(Reuters) – Atletico Madrid will not sell tickets to season ticket holders for their next five away matches after the club was hit by two sanctions by the governing body of European soccer UEFA and Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), the LaLiga side said.
Last week, Atletico were fined 30,000 euros ($32,568.00) that came with a suspended ban of selling tickets to their away fans for a UEFA competition match after the fans showed “racist discriminatory” behaviour in their side’s 4-0 defeat against Portuguese side Benfica in the Champions League.
Earlier this month, they were also ordered to play their next three home matches with partial stadium closures by RFEF after the match against rivals Real Madrid was suspended due to items being thrown onto the pitch.
“The damage caused to the image of Atletico and its fans, the vast majority of whom have behaved in an exemplary manner, is difficult to repair,” Atletico said in a statement on Wednesday.
“The seriousness of the matter and the responsibility to look after the image of our club has forced the entity to take this measure while all those involved in such incidents are identified.”
($1 = 0.9211 euros)
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)
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