Red's menace fined

Liverpool's Champions League opponents have been slapped on the wrist.

At last someone in Europe is taking racism seriously in football. It seems.

Liverpool's Champions League opponents Atletico Madrid must play their next two home matches away from their Calderon Stadium as a result of their fans racially abusing Marseille fans during the Spanish side’s 2-1 win two weeks ago.

Among the litany of shame, Atletico fans shouted monkey chants at the French club's players and the team bus was attacked after the match.

Liverpool will face Atletico in venue at least 200 miles from the Spanish capital but it is yet to be decided which one.

The Spaniards have also been fined €150,000 by Uefa, and the punishment may be extended if there is any more trouble.

Javier Aguirre has also been banned for two matches for abusing a Marseille player.

So well done Uefa, for once.

But hold on a minute, it seems Uefa are most upset by the way police treated Marseille fans. The BBC reports the police forced them to remove banners and they refused to escort the team bus from the training ground to the stadium, which was then attacked.

So organisational issues rather than racism seems to be the gripe. It’s hardly tackling the boo boys.

Look at the evidence; Fifa handed Croatia a paltry £15,000 fan for the outrageous racist taunts against Emile Heskey in their 4-1 defeat last month.

And although it is a different governing body, it certainly reeks of mixed messages. The FA have refused to sanction a game against Spain that England had pencilled in.

It’s about time Uefa and Fifa made up their minds on how they are going to tackle the blight of the continental game.

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