English Football
Spartak Moscow charged for racist abuse against Bobby Adekanye
UEFA has charged Spartak Moscow with racist behavior following alleged monkey chants at a junior game against Liverpool’s Bobby Adekanye.
The charge relates to a UEFA Youth League match in Moscow on September 26, hours before Spartak and Liverpool played in the Champions League.
British media reported the monkey chants were believed to be aimed at Adekanye, an 18-year-old Liverpool winger who was born in Nigeria and plays internationally for the Netherlands.
READ: 3 billion Yahoo accounts hacked
It is Spartak’s third run-in with UEFA disciplinary authorities this season.
The Russian champions were fined and stripped of their away-ticket allocation for one game after supporters fired a flare which nearly hit a referee.
Spartak is facing further charges after its fans protested the first decision with smoke bombs and a banner reading “UEFA Mafia.”
Adekanye is highly regarded within Liverpool’s academy and he was named by Steven Gerrard, who is in charge of the Under 19s European campaign, in a team that included Wales striker Ben Woodburn.