Feyenoord's UEFA Cup match with Tottenham Hotspur could be
played behind closed doors following a UEFA decision to appeal
against the Dutch club's recent punishment for crowd trouble.
Feyenoord were fined 200,000 Swiss Francs ($164,200) and handed a
suspended sentence of playing two matches in an empty stadium which
will come into force if the club's supporters misbehave
again.
The sanction was imposed by UEFA's independent Control and
Disciplinary board, but UEFA has now decided to call for a more
severe punishment, with the organisation's chief prosecutor
launching an appeal against the decision.
The punishment was imposed after ugly scenes during Feyenoord's
UEFA Cup match against Nancy last month when tear gas was used to
control rioting Feyenoord fans who spilled onto the pitch.
The match was suspended for half an hour.
'This has happened on a number of occasions before,' UEFA spokesman
William Gaillard said on Friday. 'The reasoning in this case is
that there have been so many previous incidents involving
Feyenoord.
'We are asking the disciplinary committee to reconsider the
sentence. One possibility might be that the sentence to play behind
closed doors is not suspended and comes into force
immediatly.'
UEFA said in a statement that an appeals hearing was expected to
take place in early January.
Ironically when the clubs met in the second leg of the 1974 UEFA
Cup final, Spurs fans rioted in Rotterdam and many were injured by
baton-wielding police as Feyenoord won the match 2-0 to win the
final 4-2 on aggregate.
By being drawn together the clubs made some European soccer history
as they will become the first clubs ever to meet in five successive
decades of European competition, not including qualifying or
preliminary rounds.
They first met in the old European Cup in the 1961-62 season and
have met in either the UEFA Cup or old Cup Winners Cup in every
decade since then.