The Spanish Football Federation's (RFEF) competition committee
has ruled that Real Betis are to close their Manuel Ruiz de Lopera
stadium for three matches as a result of their abandoned derby
clash against Sevilla.
Wednesday night's Copa del Rey quarter-final second leg was
abandoned in the second half when Sevilla coach Juande Ramos
(pictured) was knocked unconscious after being struck by a bottle
thrown from the crowd.
The remaining 33 minutes of the contest are to be played behind
closed doors at Getafe's stadium on 20th March, with the tie evenly
poised at 1-0 to Sevilla.
The RFEF has ruled that the incident was serious enough to warrant
a ground closure, but they are yet to officially announce which
matches are to be affected.
Betis' next three home games pits them against Real Zaragoza,
Villarreal and Real Sociedad but it is not yet clear whether these
will be the games in which the sanctions are to be imposed
upon.
The RFEF are also to investigate the conduct of the clubs'
respective presidents before Wednesday's game, in relation to the
government's anti-violence commission.
"The attitudes, statements and conduct of the directors and those
responsible at both clubs have contributed to the raised tension
between the rival fans," the anti-violence commission said in a
statement.
"They cannot be disassociated from the serious incidents that
occurred on the day of the game.
"We ask the RFEF to open an urgent investigation into the level of
responsibility the two sets of directors could have had for what
occurred."
