The Serbia Football Association (FA) has been punished by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) due to the racist behavior of its supporters.
UEFA has ordered the national football team of Serbia to play its next home game behind closed doors following the racist behavior of fans at Belgrade's Stadion Rajko Mitić during Serbia's 4-2 defeat by Portugal in September.
Following investigations by the European football's governing body, it ruled that Serbia must play two of its next home games without supporters, with the second game suspended for a one-year probationary period.
Also, UEFA tasked the Serbian FA to display "#EqualGame" banners around the stadium during its next home game, which will be a crucial Group B qualifying match against Luxembourg on November 14. Currently, Serbia ranks third in the group with 10 points, behind second place Portugal and first placer Ukraine with 19 points.
A number of other charges were also filed against Serbia's football team, including illicit chants and field invasions, which warranted a fine of $37,000. The decision was made by UEFA several days after a Euro 2020 qualifying match between England and Bulgaria was halted twice due to racist abuse aimed at some of the English players.
The match between England and Bulgaria was first stopped in the 28th minute with England leading 2-0 as a stadium announcement warned fans about their racist behavior, including Nazi salutes and monkey chanting.
The audience were warned that if the abuse continued, the match would be abandoned. However, it was again paused in the 43rd minute before resuming following discussions between the referee and England manager Gareth Southgate.
The UEFA have been recently facing increasing pressure to conduct more initiatives to address discrimination in the game as critics claim that the issue is not being taken seriously enough.
In a separate incident, the police arrested two man after an English FA Cup match between Haringey Borough FC and Yeovil Town on Monday was stopped due to racist abuse by fans.
