Spurs ban 48 fans for illegal sale of Champions League tickets

English club Tottenham Hotspur have handed an indefinite ban to 48 of their supporters for selling tickets illegally to Red Star Belgrade supporters for the UEFA Champions League group stage match held on Wednesday, October 23, 2019. Spurs won the match 5-0.

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UEFA had banned Red Star fans from attending the match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after being found guilty of racist abuse in a qualifying game in Finland in July 2019. However, over 200 supporters got into the top tier of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and congregated in the North Stand before making themselves heard by chanting. Stewards were forced to segregate them from home fans as there were too many to deal with.

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UEFA to decide on taking action

The club launched a full investigation and found that almost 51 Spurs fans purchased multiple tickets and illegally sold them to away fans. UEFA's disciplinary panel is still deciding whether to take any action against either club.

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Spurs had been unable to put tickets on general sale for fear of them being bought by Red Star supporters. The Red Star supporters were caught by home fans, who shared videos on social media. Red Star were also fined £44,500 on charges of racist behaviour. 

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Red Star fans were banned last season too

It is the second consecutive year that the punishment has been handed out to Red Star. Last year, their fans were unable to buy tickets for group games with Paris Saint Germain and Liverpool. The UEFA punishment followed similar fan incidents last season. Charges of racist behaviour, illicit chants and crowd disorder led to Red Star playing a home playoff game in an empty stadium and being barred from selling tickets to two group stage games away from home. Red Star was ordered to pay a fine to UEFA totalling 191,000 euros last season.

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