Uefa have just made a few changes to their official rules and now the Manchester City fans can boo the Champions League anthem without the fear of facing any sort of action.
The Background:
It all started back in October of 2015 when a section of the Citizens booed the Champions League anthem and after that, they were left amazed when UEFA decided to charge the club. According to the top governing body in Europe, the booing contravened article 16 (G) of its disciplinary procedure, forbidding “the disruption of national or competition anthems”.
But last month a part of the disciplinary code which featured the booing clause was removed.
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Why do the Man City fans boo the anthem?
There is not a particular incident which has led to this outcome. But rather a series of events.
- In 2012, Mario Balotelli – then a Man City player, was racially abused by the Porto fans during a Europa League match and they were fined €20,000 by the UEFA. The City fans clearly thought the punishment was not justified.
- Man City were fined €30,000 for arriving late in the second half of a match against Sporting Lisbon.
- In 2014, a match against CSKA was supposed to be played behind closed doors but in reality, a few hundred CSKA fans managed to get into the stadium. This clearly infuriated the Citizens as they thought that it was an unfair move towards them.
The manager’s comment:
Pep Guardiola said, “I was not here, I don’t know what happened, but they must forget what happened in the past.”
“If we are to be successful it means everyone playing their part – the coaches, the players and – very importantly – the spectators. Together we have to make these European nights special and filled with passion. We have to be loud and proud and make a statement.
“We have to make the Etihad Stadium the place from where we begin to make UEFA Champions League history.”
