Red Star Belgrade was fined 90,000 euros by UEFA for the behavior of its supporters during the match against Viktoria Plzen in the Europa League. Fans of the Serbian club chanted in honor of Ratko Mladic and raised a banner in his support. BTA reports on the punishment, citing the AP agency. The incident occurred on August 27 during Red Star Belgrade's heavy loss 1:5 to the Czech team. Some of the Belgrade club's supporters chanted Mladic's name and displayed a banner praising and thanking him.
Mladic, a former commander of Bosnian Serb forces, was sentenced to life in prison by the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals for genocide, crimes against humanity and violations of the laws and customs of war during the 1992-1995 conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He died in The Hague at the age of 84, where he was serving his sentence.
According to UEFA, the punishment for Red Star was related to chants that were inappropriate for a sporting event, as well as "racist and/or discriminatory behavior."
In addition to the financial penalty, the Serbian club was also banned from selling tickets to its supporters for its next away match in UEFA competitions.
The punishment will take effect when Red Star visit Swiss side Lugano in the Conference League.