After a fan inside the stadium appeared to do a Nazi salute on camera, UEFA fined Real Madrid and mandated a suspended partial closure of the Bernabéu. The club will be required to pay €15,000 for the “racist and/or discriminatory behaviour of its supporters”, according to the European regulatory body. Additionally, the La Liga team has been instructed to shut 500 seats in the Bernabéu’s lower south stand for a single UEFA competition match.
A one-year probationary term has been imposed on the partial stadium shutdown. The event happened before Real Madrid defeated Benfica in the Champions League. The team claimed to have located the concerned fan and taken them off the pitch.
“Real Madrid condemns this type of gesture and expression that incites violence and hatred in sports and society,” the organization stated at the time. Vinícius Júnior, a striker for Madrid, claimed that Gianluca Prestianni of Benfica had racially harassed him a week before the Bernabéu incident.
Real Madrid fined €15K after fan performs Nazi salute in CL
After an appeal by Benfica, Prestianni’s one-match suspension was maintained while UEFA looked into the event. In response to suspected Nazi salutes during Champions League games, UEFA has recently imposed two penalties. Tottenham Hotspur was fined €30,000 (£26,200/$35,100) after a supporter was seen making the gesture during an Eintracht Frankfurt game.
Following the match, Real Madrid said that they had asked the club’s disciplinary committee to “initiate an immediate expulsion procedure for the member” who was seen making the Nazi salute on video. In a statement denouncing the gesture, Real Madrid said, “This member was identified by the club’s security staff moments after appearing on the broadcast and was immediately expelled from the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.”
In addition to fining Real Madrid, UEFA mandated that the stadium’s 500 nearby seats in the lower south stand be partially closed for one game. That penalty is, however, suspended for a year. Real Madrid advanced to the round of 16 with a 3-1 aggregate victory after defeating Benfica 2-1. In the following round, they take on Manchester City.
